(If it's okay, I will start?)

Richard's deep evergreen eyes looked out upon the land of Darkness as he looked back at his canvas, using small strokes with his brush for the black leaves on the trees and the small swirls in the night sky that was lit poorly by the full moon covered by dark storm clouds. It was at most hard because his candle was flickering aimlessly at the wind from an upcoming storm coming from the opened doors to his balcony. He just wanted to finish the landscape in time before the storm would it.

Just as he finished his last tree and was ready to attempt to finish the sky, there was a loud knock on his bedroom door. Richard stopped and sighed as he set his paint brush and his color pallet down on the nearby table just as his candle blew out.

"Enter," Richard said in a lazy attitude as he took his towel and wiped off the wet paint from his hands.

Richard's maid walked in with a silver tray and a black envelope sitting on the tray. "A letter, mi'lord," the maid said as she curtsied and presented the letter to Richard.

Richard spoke no word and made no noise as he took the letter and broke the red wax seal and took out folded parchment. It was from his father, telling him that he would be delayed being that his journey home would be delayed for private reasons.

"I'm not surprised he's not telling me why," Richard spoke allowed as he crumpled up the letter and threw it in the fire as he motioned for the maid to go away. Another war, another reason to be trapped within these walls, Richard thought to himself.

a sigh of contentment escaped past Leora’s lips as she leisurely strolled threw her family’s private gardens. Soft blue eyes roamed over the yellows, pinks and blues of the newly blooming flowers. Today she would past the time and tomorrow her father would be home, she smiled at the thought. He and some of the elite guard had left nearly a month ago to visit large towns and villages alike. It was something her father did every year to ensure that his people were happy and that their kingdom was prosperous.

The wind picked up and Leora reached a hand up to still her unusual white hair before it tangled in the breeze. The wind brought the sent of rain and her eyes were drawn to the dark looming cloud still far off in the distance.

“excuse me miss” her gaze left the cloud and trailed over to their courts messenger. A young male, probably only two years younger then her, with dark hair and eyes to match. The smile that had once graces her lips faltered.

“Yes Roland” she kept her nerves calm but it was very rarely that she ever received a message when her father was out on his yearly patrol.

“A letter has just come in for you” he said as he extended the letter out to her. She took it quickly and dismissed him. What she found in the letter made her blood go cold. Her father had been delayed, there was never a time when her father had been delayed.

Richard wasn't too sure what to think anymore as he paced back and forth on his balcony as harsh thunder crackled in the foregrounds and the smell of oncoming rain blew in the breeze. His father was being delayed. He hated that just like the other times his father had been delayed. Richard's personal guard and best friend, Morry, sat on the thick stone fence of the the balcony, watching his friend pace back and forth.

"You should be used to this by now," Morry said as he sighed and ran his hand through his silver hair as the wind kept tossing it.

Richard stopped and looked at Morry with eyes crossed with anger and worry. "But I'm not!" he said in a stressed whisper that was loud enough for Morry to hear.

As rain began to sprinkle faster and faster, Richard stood there and glanced at the sky. I need an escape...from all of this...anyone or anything, he thought to himself. Change was needed greatly upon the kingdom of Darkness.

((O.o i kinda got carried away....))


Leora stormed around in her room. Her fingers itched to throw something in her frustration. No one would give her a straight answer! It seemed she wasn’t the only one to get a letter from her father and now everyone was dancing around her inquires. It had been two hours since she had received the letter and already half of the kingdoms army was setting out. Not to mention her fathers advisers had been locked away in a meeting amongst themselves. She was about ready to pull her hair out.

Obviously something was wrong and it upset her that they thought they could hide it from her. She stopped pacing her room and took a deep breath trying to calm her anger and collect her thoughts. She was the princess damn it and since her mother was dead and her father was gone that left her as the main authority of the castle which meant she had something’s to get straightened out.

Finally deciding on a plan of action she changed into her riding cloths and made her way out of her room and down the long corridor towards the advisors study, only stopping when she had passed a maid and quickly asked that a small pack be made up of her traveling cloths before she continued on.

Reaching the large wooden door she could hear muffled arguing. She scowled at the door that held behind it her fathers advisors. She hated talking to these men they were always so unreasonable when it came to the most simplest of things, especially when it came to her.

As she shoved open the large doors silence greeted her. Stepping fully into the room four pairs of eyes greeted her. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of not only the two advisors but the master of the Guard and his second in command. All eyes watched her as she moved toward them with the grace of a floating feather. The fact that they were staring at her in such a way made her uneasy but she didn’t let it show.

“Princess what are you wearing?” her blue eye’s flicked to one of the advisors.

“I believe it is call riding gear” she all but snapped causing the master of the guard and his second to avert their eyes.

“I can see that” he replied just as tartly “surly you don’t intend to ride in the rain” the suggestion caught her off guard, she had completely forgotten that a storm was beginning to roll in.

“I am leaving for Alweye in an hour” she said deciding to ignore what he had said. All eyes shot back to her she could almost feel their disapproving comments but she silenced them before they could have a chance to voice them. “Something has delayed my father and half of our kingdoms army has been sent out with out my consent Alweye was the last village that my father had to visit so that is where I will start”

She knew it was a risk going there. The boarder line to their kingdom and the kingdom of the dark resided closely to that village but she wasn’t about to let that stop her.

“what is the meaning of this” one of the advisors shot up from his seat, his face was read from anger and he look about ready to pop.

“Phillip” she said cutting of the advisors next words making him sputter in anger. “you will and four others will accompany me I expect you ready within the hour” with that she turned and strolled out of the study almost missing his reply.

“Yes your majesty” If they though a little storm was going to stop her then they were wrong.

Richard was getting impatient and was beginning to think about riding to see what was wrong with his father. He was thinking about riding out to Alweye. If it was the last thing he had to do.

He readied his black stallion in the royal stables as he buckled his boots and then buckled on his horse' saddle. He needed to see what was wrong with his dad and if his father was in trouble or not. Better to check it out. He didn't care if the rain was picking up. The ride would take a while. And his royal darkness blood was running strong through him.

She was soaked to the bone cold and lost. Leora urged her chestnut mare forward causing her wet cloak to flap in the wind as the rain continued to pour. It had been four hours. Four hours of missed sleep, four hours of being cold and four hours of riding, her butt was well past sore at this point. They had been within an hour of Alweye before lightning sturck a tree only a few yards away causing the horses to scatter. Once she had calmed her mare down she was long off from her original root and she had no clue where her escorts were.

She kept them moving hoping to see some sign of life but it was getting late and the storm didn’t seem to be letting up. Perhaps she should wait? Maybe she was making it harder for them to find her by her constant moving.

A little leery of stopping she halter her mares movements. The horse had to be tired perhaps it was better if they did stop. Feeling tired and sore she slowly lowered her self off her horse and lead her under a large tree for shelter.

After tieing her rains to a branch she settled herself down to rest. With her back leaning against the tree she stared out into the dark forest wishing she had just stayed home.

Richard threw his eye brows at the map he was staring at. "This map can't be right...," he said as he shook his head. Richard looked at his surroundings as he stopped his horse. Rain was pouring down and really, Richard didn't mind. He felt like he must have been riding in circles all night.

He lightly kicked to make his horse move again. But then after ten minutes of riding, his horse acceptedly stopped, letting out a nose to show that the Richard's horse didn't want to go anymore. Richard and his horse were both tired.

Richard then heard another horse nearby. So, he folded his map and put it safely away from the rain in his pouch.

She could hear a horse galloping closer. Her heart almost burst for joy, it had to be the master of the guard. She stood and untied her mare’s reins in excited anticipation of being found. After she made quick work of the knot she turned to see a large mass moving toward her. Her breath caught in her throat as the thing moved closer. The sound of hooves became louder as the shape of a humans body attached to a horse’s came into view.

The creature wielded a large battle axe. It slowed slightly when it saw her. She stayed as still as humanly possible. Fear griped her as she stared at a creature she never thought existed. It stamped hits hooves and charged.

A scream ripped threw her as she ran to dodge his charge. She didn’t have the time to mount her horse so she let the reins go and watched as her mare took off in another direction. Acting quickly before the thing was upon her she calmed herself enough to concentrate. She stopped running and called forth a shield.

Ser heard a loud thud as the thing collided with her shield. She concentrated on keeping the shield going as he swung his axe repeatedly against her barrier. It was taking a good amount of concentration to keep her barrier in place so she was unable to adequately call forth the earth to help her. She would just have to wait until ether the thing got bored, tired or until her shield broke whichever came first.

The first thing Richard saw was a burst of light. He acted against what he was trained to and got off his horse as he handled his ax and threw it, feeling it hit against a shield. Then again, a weird alarming feeling ran through him and so he quickly moved his ax away to inspect the person from the land of Light standing before him. It was raining, it was cold, he could feel that both of them were tired.

After what seemed like forever the thing became tired or bored, she wasn’t sure which, and left. She sat on the ground totally exhausted, she did however keep her shield up just incase he decided to come back. No sooner had she begin to relax did an axe hit her shield. She stood on already sore legs and turned to meet me next attacker.

Her eyes widened in surprise as there before her stood a male from the land of darkness. She hadn’t realized how far she out she had traveled. Though she had to admit he looked tired which made her feel better and a little less on edge.

"Hello" she said cautiously keeping her barrier up, he had after all just thrown an axe at her.

Richard threw his eyebrows together after the girl had left to sit down. He needed to talk to her, so he walked over to her, threw another blow of his ax as she stood back up. After she said her 'hullo', Richard looked at her with a weary gaze.

"What are you doing this far away from your 'kingdom'?" he asked, making the word 'kingdom' sound like dirt.

Well, he didn't exactly know where they were, but they were both far away from their kingdoms, it seemed. The rain was beginning to lighten up and the thunder began to disappear from the sky as Richard looked at the girl. There, he saw someone beautiful beyond belief. That was all he needed to know. If he thought more of her, he would be compelled to be forced upon respect amongst her.

“I… I’m lost” she said uncertainly. She could feel her energy waning and with that her shield dissolved. She didn’t have the energy to fight nor did she have the energy to call forth another shield so she took a few careful steps back. Fear was the only thing that kept her on her feet as she took in his sight, and she had to say what she found she liked. But that didn’t stop the fact that there kingdoms were at odds.

Instinctively her hand went up to cover the unusual white color of her hair but she stopped midway through the motion realizing that he probably had already noticed the color. Its what’s marked her as part of the royal blood line she and her father were the only ones born with white hair as were her ancestors. Maybe if she was lucky he wouldn’t know that.

Richard tried to pass by the fact that how her hand made his attention draw to the color of her hair. White, just like how the kingdom of Light's royal ancestors had. But just from the looks of her, he saw no threat. He then yielded his weapon and placed it in the special slot for it in his belt.

"So am I," he admitted as he took a look around and took out his map. "I'm pretty sure this map my subjects handed me is completely incorrect. Either that, or I forgot how to read a freaking map," he said, trying to lighten up the mood.

she knew he was supposed to be the enemy but she couldn’t bring herself to care. he obviously wasn’t going to hurt her, not yet anyway. so she lowered her guard and stepped toward him angling herself to look at the map. unfortunately she had never been good with maps so she probably wouldn’t be much help but she felt next to useless if she didn’t at least try. after a few seconds of studying the map she recognize the road she had previously been on before she had gotten separated from her escorts. she pointed a finger at the road.

"this was where i was before getting lost" she then trailed her finger down the map in the direction her horse had taken off. "so.... we should be somewhere around here" she said after a few seconds of calculation. "well... give or take a mile" she added sheepishly.

Richard sighed as he looked at where she was pointing at. "I agree," he said as he then looked at the path that her horse had taken off. "Well, my horse needs rest before we can go anywhere. If I may ask, what is your name and where are you heading off to?" he asked her as he walked over to the tree canopy and sat down on the wet grown with a great sigh of stress escaping his mouth, looking tired as ever.

He folded up the map and placed it in his inner coat pocket, noticing how the storm had finally fully passed by. "I'm heading out to Alweye," he then said.

Leora watched him retreat to the tree but made no move to follow still slightly weary of this stranger, She was debating on whether or not to tell him where she was headed, that is until he told her what her had been headed. A suppressed expression flashed across her face.

“really?” she said almost intrigued. “that’s where I was headed” finally deciding that with little to no chance of her finding her own way out of the woods she mine as well make friends. “my name is Leora” she said making her way over to the tree and sitting down a few inches away from him. “whats yours?”

she was thankful that it had stopped raining but that didn’t leave her any less wet nor did it help that it was really late. She would need to rest soon but she wasn’t sure if she could do it with him around. So instead she busied herself with ringing out the water on her cloak.

Richard laid his head against the tree behind him, taking notice that Leora sat down near him. "My name is Richard. And yes, I'm headed there. That's where my father was at last and he's been delayed. No one around the castle seems to tell me why, so I want to find out for myself," Richard replied as he turned his head and looked over at Leora.

Then Richard's black stallion came over to him and touched her nose to his face, indicating that the horse was well rested and wanted to continue to go. Richard chuckled a little. "Alright, Sheelah," he said as he patted her nose and then looked back at Leora.

"My horse is ready to continue," he said as he got up and looked down at her ringing out wet cloak, feeling a little guilty that his was nearly dry. "I am offering you to take you with me," he then told her.

her eyes widen when she met this male she had never expected them to have so much in common. though the fact that his father was detained in the same area as her father did not sit well with her. did that mean they were at war again? or had something else happened? then again she had seen that strange creature... ether way she wasn’t sure how much information to give Richard or she opted not to offer why she had been on her way to Alweye

she stood up and shook her cloak so that it was hanging loosely behind her. "are you sure its ok?" the last thing she wanted was to be a burden on someone.

Richard gave her a small smile as he mounted his horse and let out a hand to Leora to grab onto. "I asked for a reason," he said.

feeling overwhelming relief at his open acceptance of her she took his hand and mounted the horse behind him. wrapping her arms around his middle to keep herself steady she pointed off in a direction. "i think the roads back that way."

Richard nodded his head as he lightly kicked his horse and his horse began to run. "We both need sleep. But for now we need to get as far as possible. You can sleep on me if you become desperate thought," Richard told her as his horse galloped through the puddles and off to Alweye.

sleep she did, though if only in light sleep, concerned she might fall off. she fully roused herself when she heard the horses hooves change from soft footfalls to more louder footfalls. she yawned as she looked up and around. it appeared that they had found the road but how far away from Alweye she was unsure.

"where are we?" she asked sleepily.

"We have just entered Alweye," Richard replied as he slowed his horse down.

Everything was so different. It wasn't like the land of Darkness and it wasn't like the land of Light. It was almost like it was in between. To him, it was rather fascinating.

"really?" she asked curiously as she examined her surroundings. a few feet away she could see the rise of buildings. she smiled happy to have finally made it to her destination. she only hoped her father was still here. It had been a while sense she had been here but everything looked pretty much the same except for how quiet it was. That if anything unnerved her.

“there is a field about a half a mile straight ahead. Its where my father usually makes camp you said your father was here to right? Maybe he made camp not far from their”

"True," Richard replied as he kicked his horse gently to gallop faster.

Once they got to the field, they were stopped by a guard. "Halt, who are you?" the guard asked them.

"She's the Princess of Light, I am her escort," Richard lied.

The guard looked at the girl and then bowed. "Welcome, Princess," he said as he stepped aside for them to pass through.