It had been a long time since the curse of Sleeping Beauty was placed here in the castle. In fact it had been so long that the spell was almost gone. It still had enough in it to keep sleeping beauty from aging or fading away completely. The thorns still covered the castle but all you would have to do to get through them was to merely brush them aside with a glove and they would fall to the ground. Although there had been a dragon, it had long ago left from sheer boredom when people had stopped showing up and the spell started to fade. In fact the castle itself was starting to fall apart. The only thing in relative good condition was the stairs to the tower where sleeping beauty was.

The fact was that most people were expecting to find a girl in the bed, when in fact it was actually a man. When the few who had braved the tower had gotten to their prize and found a beautiful man instead of the girl they had been seeking, you can imagine the shock that followed. It was likely that after a few attempts, it was rumored that the legend was just a myth and that no one was in the tower. How embarrassed would they be if they told everyone they had found a guy in bed??

The spell had faded so much that it wouldn't even take a kiss to wake up sleeping beauty now. A sound alone could probably wake them up, but no one had ventured into the tower in so long that it had not been put to the test.

(Sleep Well. Guten Nacht!)

Easiest damn quest she'd ever been on!!! Kaya grumbled as she stomped up the steps. She'd heard of the rumors since she was a child, and this Quest was the whole reason she'd become as famous as she currently was. Well...the challenge, and the image of the beauty rumored to be here.

It had been so much more different when she'd arrived, though. She'd lifted her sword to cut down the thorns, only to almost drop the weapon as the thorns fell and crumbled. Not letting that hurt her spirit, she'd continued, and searched the whole castle for the horrible dragon or one single person, and had been unable to find anything. Great...show up to the princess and not have a drop of blood on her, and not one single bead of sweat?! And she was trying to win this woman over? Fat chance!

Kaya brushed back her long hair, dyed a bright blue. It wasn't often an enemy forgot it, and it was rather intimidating. It, however, had a habit of getting into her eyes and bothering her. The ferret chattering loudly at her feet didn't seem to help much. He kept rushing forward then moving back to her, his black eyes suprisingly intellegent. "Merik, shush!" Kaya commanded the tiny beast. She'd bought him when he'd been a tiny kitten, since she wasn't too good as recon, she'd trained him to help her out, and the tiny beast had picked up on simple signals quickly. From the way he moved about, and how he ignored her, Kaya knew nothing dangerous lay up here either. Boring.

Eventually, however, a door met her view, after climbing the horribly tall tower. The female grunted, shoving the door open and smiling broadly. There! A bed! So the Princess must be...

The sounds of stomping footsteps reverberated though the tower loudly. It was so quiet inside that they sounded like thunder booming with each step. The sound carried up to the very top where sleeping beauty laid in an endless slumber according to the legend. The sound cracked through the remaining remnants of the spell that had lingered. Tristan's eyes slowly opened, revealing dark eyes that looked crimson in the dim light that filtered through the shutters over the windows.

What the hell.... He slowly pushed himself up on the bed, his dark black hair swinging into his eyes. He pushed it absentmindedly back and looked around. He frowned when he didn't see anyone else in the room with him. Something's not right here.. This wasn't the way things were supposed to work. Shouldn't there be someone here who had kissed him to break the spell? He thought back to right before he had fallen for that evil witch's trap and pricked his finger on a spinning wheel blade that had been lying in the floor. He remembered her laughing at him and saying "Only a kiss will wake you from this spell and what man wants to kiss another man! You'll sleep forever, my pet!" After that all he could remember was the sound of her mad cackling as his world faded to black.

He laid back on the bed, his hand on his head as he tried to figure out what had happened. His shirt was loose and fell back from him, showing his bare chest and stomach for anyone to see. He just needed a minute to get his bearings but before he could he heard the footsteps that had awakened him stop in front of the door. He looked over just as the door swung open to find a woman with bright blue hair standing there.

Kaya stared openly at the form on the bed. There was something not right here...

It seemed to last forever as Kaya fially figured it out. No...boobs. His bare chest was suprisingly pale. He was beautiful, but not the beauty she'd been expecting. The warrior paused, before bending over to look under the bed. Perhaps it was a prank, though a poor one.

Not finding another person i the room, Kaya turned back to the bed. "Who are you? What did you do to the princess?" She glowered at te figure and folded her arms over her chest. Merik, however, took to the stranger right away, climbing unto the bed, and squeaking as he nibbled the male's fingers, desperate to be pet. Kaya was clearly displeased with the creatures antics, though she didn't take her eyes away from the male.

Tristan sat up with an amused look on his face when she kept staring at him. His amusement only deepened as she bent down to look under the bed, obviously looking for something. He was a bit startled when the ferret climbed up on the bed with him and nibbled at his fingers. He looked down and gave the creature a small smile and gently stroked it's head. He looked back up at the woman in front of him, an amused look still on his face. He was struck with how beautiful she was, even though she was glowering at him.

He frowned a bit when she asked about a princess. "Princess?" He laughed softly. "I do believe you have been misled. There was never a princess here. Only me. It seems as if the spell holding all this together has crumbled. I didn't even get the pleasure of having your lips on mine." He was a little surprised by her and that always made a little arrogance come out in him. Normally he wasn't like that, but every now and then it reared it's ugly head. He deliberatively with held his name from her, until he could figure out what exactly she wanted.

A tiny pause met Tristian's words. Kaya was taken aback, which tended to make her lash out. Her left hand twitched towards her sword. After a moment, she scoffed, and shook her head. "Wouldn't happen in a million years. Never? Never a Princess?"

Kaya didn't wait for an answer this time, reacing down and gripping the ferret in her hand. She wanted to turn around and leave, though something in his chocolate eyes made her stay, made her curiousity peak. "Well...who are you then? Is the rest of the story true? How'd this happen?" Her emerald gaze had softened a bit, though irritation still rested in the orbs.

Whoever this was didn't expect her to carry him down the stairs unto a waiting stallion to ride off into the sunset? Kaya's eyes roamed over him form and she held down another snort. He seemed like a sissy. Had he ever done a hard day's work? She doubted that very much. His very manner and tone suggested arrogance.

A slow smile spread across his face, making it even more handsome when he heard her claim of a million years. After she had grabbed the ferret from the bed he stood up and stretched. He was quite tall. Although his frame was on the lean side, underneath all that was toned muscle. He had practiced with a sword since the day he was able to lift on and before all this happened, he had made it a point to practice every other day if possible. Looks were often deceptive as he had good reason to know.

Now that he had gotten the surprise out of his system, his arrogance faded from his manner. He held up his hands in a placating manner. "One question at a time please!" He felt himself become amused again as her eyes roamed over his body. When she finally looked back up, his chocolate eyes locked onto hers after, and then he found himself unable to look away. She had beautiful emerald eyes and it felt as if he were drowning in their depths as he met her gaze. He stood there for a moment, just staring and then cued back into reality.

"I've always been told that introductions should come first. My name is Tristan. And you are?" He could see the faint trace of irritation in her eyes even though she had stopped glaring at him.

The female faltered as Tristian stood, her eyes widening slightly. He'd been much taller than she'd realized. Then he was looking at her strangely, and Kaya felt her stomach twist slightly. This was getting to weird. Screw his question. "No one you need to know about!" She snapped, and folded her arms once again, her eyes narrowing. "Just tell me what I want to know so I can get out of here, okay? What happened, why are the stories wrong?!"

Tristan stood there with a look of amusement on his face once again. He took a few steps towards her and laughed. "Beautiful or not, I'm under no obligation to explain anything to you when you won't even tell me your name. In fact I'm not holding you here at all." Some of his arrogance had crept back into his voice but this time it was meant to be there.

He looked her over for a minute and then with the ghost of a smirk, walked over to the one window in the tower to look out. They were higher up than he remembered, not that it mattered. He started to button his shirt as he turned back to her. "Now since you've gone to the trouble of pointing out that you're 'no one I need to know about' then I'll leave it at that and bid you goodbye." He left the two top buttons of his shirt undone and then started towards her again, his intent to go past her and down the stairs.

The female wasn't scared of the tall boy, but now she found herself frusterated. She couldn't just walk away without knowing, and so much had changed in two hundred years. The man would be eaten alive in their crime ridden world. She couldn't let him walk away with that one her shoulders.

"Kaya!" She snapped finally, then pointed to the ferret following the male around. "That's Merik. Now will you please explain things to me!?"

Tristan had just reached the start of the stairs when she snapped out her name to him. He turned slowly back to her, his chocolate eyes looking even more amused. He looked down at the small animal following him and smiled down at it. A real smile, not just the smirk he had shown her earlier. He bent down and scratched behind the furry animal's ears. "Well hello Merik. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand to see if the ferret would climb up on it and looked up at Kaya.

"Now that wasn't that hard was it?," he said softly. He cocked his head to the side as he watched her. "I suppose since you've told me your name that I should explain things a bit. However, that story is best told out under the open sky and I've grown tired of this tower. Perhaps we could go down and then I'll tell you my story?" Laughter danced in his eyes. He knew she was frustrated and that it would only serve to frustrate her even further to have to wait till they were outside to find out what had happened here.

Eagerly, the tiny creature jumped on his hand and attempted to climb up the male’s arm. His mistress didn’t see him as a pet, so the attention was glorious.

“My horse is outside.” She finally stated, folding her arms over her chest. He so wasn’t supposed to be the one she rode off with. The only thing worse she could think of, would be if she had found a princess, but she looked like a toad. Kaya sighed, and brushed past the prince, leading the way down the stairs and outside. In the courtyard was a magnificent white stallion. She’d clearly intended to do things right.

He gave a small chuckle at her obvious annoyance. Tristan started down the steps after Kaya, petting the ferret every now and then on the way down. He loved how soft the animals fur was. Once he had reached the bottom he went out into the courtyard to find a white stallion waiting for them. He was a beautiful animal and Tristan had always had a soft spot for animals.

He walked up to the stallion, quite unafraid and reached up to stroke his soft warm neck. A soft expression showed on his face as he gave the stallion his full attention. "Hello lovely." He glanced back towards Kaya, his expression unchanged. "He is a beautiful animal. I would hate to make him ride double. Perhaps instead we could take turns walking?" He hated to make the stallion work harder than he had to. As much as he could tell Kaya didn't want him with her, he needed to find out just how much the world had changed since he had been asleep. A soft wind was blowing and made his hair ripple slightly. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes with pleasure. The sun outlined his figure, making him even more handsome, not that he was aware of this. It felt so good to get out of that infernal tower! He looked back to Kaya again and gave her a real smile.

"It feels wonderful out here. Do you mind if we find a place away from this dreadful tower before I tell you my story?" His arrogance had faded and there was nothing left but politeness left in his voice. He absentmindedly stoked horse and ferret at the same time as he waited for her answer.

The female was quiet for a moment, staring at the male in disbelief. Finally, she shook her head, moving to the horse. She took the stallions reins, and glanced back to Tristian. "Get on." She muttered, as her way of agreeing. "I'll walk him, and you probably shouldn't be walking after laying there for so long. Yeah. He's pretty." She paused, waiting to the prince to mount, and holding the male quietly. When the man had done so, she began leading the horse. "He's a rental. I gotta have him back in two days, so if we're walking the whole way, we'll have to be quick. You hungry, then?"

Tristan quickly and easily got on the horse, getting comfortable. It had been too long since he had been on a horse and it felt good to feel the animal move beneath him as they walked along. "Rental?" Tristan looked a little confused. He had never heard of a horse being a rental. Back in the time he was from you either owned a horse or you didn't.

At her mention of food, his stomach growled softly. He gave a sheepish smile in her direction. "I could eat." He studied her as they walked, trying to be subtle about it so that she wouldn't notice. She was very beautiful and carried herself like a warrior. He found himself amused by her attitude and found it quite refreshing. The women he had known had usually been airheaded simpering things that only wanted him for the status he could give them. It was nice to meet a woman who wasn't so..shallow.

She reached into the saddlebag as the moved, revealing dried meats wrapped in towels, and sweet bread. "Help yourself. I'll get you something nicer when we get to the inn." She glanced over in amusement. "Yes, a rental. I wanted to make a good impression on the princess. An adventurer may have to leave a horse many places, horses aren't quiet, they cost a lot of money. Sometimes it's better just to rent one, and use your feet the rest of the time."

"So...why don't you tell me the story between bites?"

Tristan started to eat the dried meat she had given him, pleased at how good it tasted. "Well, there was a contest that was to be held in the town I was in at the time. The reward was 1000 gold to the man who could best all the challenges. Of course I signed right up for it, I could have used the money. I made it through the first two challanges which consisted of a horse race and a duel. The last part of the contest was to see who could use their wits to find the hidden 'princess' in the woods nearby. I was searching when I came across the tower you found me in. I could hear a beautiful voice singing from the top and thinking it was the missing 'princess' I started up the tower. When I got there, a beautiful woman with long golden hair was sitting at the spinning wheel making it turn. She stopped when I entered the tower and smiled at me. "Hello," she said. "You must be one of the contestants. You must answer a riddle before you may take me back. Here come closer." I went closer and before I knew it, my foot had slipped on something she had put in the floor. When I went to catch myself she pushed the spinning wheel towards me and my hand ended up on the needle, cutting my finger. She turned from a beautiful young woman to a wicked sorceress and she started to laugh as blackness came up for me. "Now you can be the prize everyone will seek but when they find you, who will want to kiss another man just to claim his prize? That will teach you to steal from me again." You see I had recognized her as soon as she had transformed. I had taken a silver swan that laid golden eggs from her domain years ago and she was punishing me now."

Tristan finished up his dried meat and looked over to the woman who was listening to his story. "I think the spell had gone on too long and had worn off by the time you came up the tower. I'm sorry if I ruined your quest." He had a look of remorse on his face. He couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she was in the afternoon light as he looked at her. Something in his face must have given away what he was thinking however.