This is my first story ever submitted to this site so bear with me. I just started it not too long ago after reading my favorite Manga Series "Tsubasa" when I got an idea. This story gives you a little of everything, some of the plot ideas from "Tsubasa", while some of the magic ideas from The final fantasy series. All of these things have helped me start this story, just stating that. Well anyway, I hope you like it, R&R please, thanks xD. Enjoy! Update: thanks to some reviews, i've reformatted my story to what I think is proper grammar. From what the reviews say, I've changed it so that every time a new speaker comes, a new paragraph is started, correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe that's what they taught me in school. Update #2: I have deleted chapter two and resubmitted it, but i changed many things, including the country names. I have alos added more detail. hope this helps.

---

Where the Wind Takes Us

By Brett Taggart

Chapter One: A Sudden Encounter

“Your majesty Ichiro, Haruko, ruler of the west territory in our great country of Caston has surprisingly come to the outer gates of your palace requesting to negotiate the disputing of the east territory without violence this time,” Azuma, the king’s apprentice informed.

“Oh really, well don’t let her stand outside in the middle of winter or she’ll freeze into a Popsicle, let her pass,” Ichiro exclaimed.

“Yes your royal majesty Ichiro,” Azuma responded. Azuma turned and bolted out the large double doors to his right, his long robe still dragging behind him. Azuma was an average sized man with dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He had been close friends with Ichiro since they were just trainees at the AFYW “Academy For Young Warriors.”

Ichiro sat upon his royal throne while his sister Akita fed him grapes freshly picked from the vineyard. Ichiro and Akita are cousins to King Taigo, the rightful king of Caston who just recently passed away of old age. Haruko, his daughter and next in line for the throne has been fighting Ichiro for the crown since Ichiro thinks he should be king because he is the only other male relative in the king’s family. Queen Kimiko had died during the birth of Haruko and was buried in the castle cemetery. Ichiro is currently 28 years old, while Haruko is only 26 years old.

Ichiro’s palace lay on the east side of Caston, spanning almost half of the east territory the he had claimed as his own. With two surrounding walls, a variety of pillars, and an assortment of traps and secret passages, The Ichiro’s castle is one of the best strongholds in the whole country, but no ones castle can beat King Taigo’s castle, currently owned by Haruko, in the West territory of Caston. Ichiro’s throne room was about 40 meters wide with a very high ceiling. The floors were freshly polished linoleum and his throne sat upon a raised platform accessed by a staircase that led up to it. Stained glass windows encircled the room and a mountain of guards roamed the room, in case of an attack from all sides. Suddenly, the wide double doors flew up and in stepped Azuma with Haruko following close behind.

“Ah, well hello Haruko, come to surrender your half of the kingdom?” Ichiro asked with a smirk.

Haruko lowered her eyebrows and in an annoyed tone simply responded, “no, but I am here to reclaim what is rightfully mine.”

“Come now Haruko, take a seat,” Ichiro suggested with a wave of his hand. Haruko turned as Azuma walked up carrying a golden chair with emeralds incrusted into its legs. It had a red velvet cushion that felt soft on her bottom as she sat down and crossed her legs. She gently placed her hands on her leg and looked very professional through the eyes of Ichiro. “Well Haruko, even if we negotiate I don’t plan on giving up any of my territory so unless you want to surrender this meeting is pointless and we can just commence the usual battle,” Ichiro exclaimed while pulling a rose out of his sister’s hair.

He twirled it delicately between his pointer and middle finger, constantly putting it to his nose to smell it. He seemed totally distracted by the ruby red rose as he sat in a firm position in his chair. Haruko quickly glanced around the room before slowly reaching her left arm to the back of her dress where a small switchblade knife was holstered in a knife sheath strapped to her upper leg. “Well then I guess I have no choice,” Haruko mumbled before sliding the knife out of the sheath and launching it straight ahead at Ichiro. He quickly dropped the rose and grabbed the knife by the blade. His fingers didn’t even bleed from the blade. Akita just stood on the side and watched the whole thing unfold. It all happened in a split second, Haruko didn’t even have time to move before Azuma grabbed both of her arms and held them firmly behind her back. Azuma bent her down, Haruko’s long black hair falling in her face.

She looked at Ichiro with a face of disgust and rage. “Now Haruko, you didn’t think I would be that easy on you, did you?” Ichiro bellowed. “Azuma, put her in the east chamber dungeons.”

“Yes your majesty,” Azuma replied. He pushed Haruko out the huge double doors and headed for the dungeons.

“With Haruko as a hostage, I can make her advisor give up their half of the kingdom for her safe return,” Ichiro plotted. He bent down and picked up the rose. “This looks like the start of a luscious life,” Ichiro boasted while gently placing the rose back in Akita’s hair behind her ear. “This victory only signals many more to come and then my sister I won’t need you as a slave anymore and you will be free to roam.” Akita just looked down with a frown as her brother stroked her silky brown hair. Her wide amber eyes met his in a fixed gaze as he gave a half smile and sent her away. I won’t let him keep Haruko as a prisoner, Akita thought.She held the empty bowl that the grapes were in as she headed for the kitchen. I’m gonna break her out before sunrise tomorrow, Akita thought. Haruko stared mindlessly at the moon that was visible through one of the dungeon’s high windows. She was in a locked cell, her arms chained to the dirty wall. A sewer rat scampered by in the corner and the cell was completely dark except for the little moonlight that shone thorough the caged window’s bars.

Her dress was dusty and wrinkled. Haruko sighed as she slowly closed her eyes. How are you gonna get out of this one Haruko? She asked herself. Suddenly Haruko heard the sound of stones shifting position. She quickly opened her eyes and scanned the area around the cage, but it was pitch black. She shivered as she exhaled air and saw her breath. A faint glow was emerging from her right outside of the cage. She remembered seeing a dead end to the right when she had brought down here by Azuma. The glow was getting brighter as a figure appeared from the dark with a lantern wrapped in a cloak. They had their hood up so she couldn’t see who it was. The person held up a key ring and shuffled through keys until they picked one and inserted it into the lock. With a quick turn and a muffled click sound, the cage door was unlocked and squeaked as it opened slowly on its rusty hinges.

Haruko’s heart beated fast as the figure headed for her. “You stay away from me or I’ll alert the castle guards,” Haruko babbled.

“Calm down,” the figure responded. The voice was female and sounded as sweet as a bird singing. The person knelt down next to Haruko and removed their hood. It was Ichiro’s sister Akita. She held a finger up to her mouth as she quickly unlocked the two locks around Haruko’s arms. Akita helped Haruko off the ground and signaled her to follow her.

“Why are you helping me?” Haruko whispered.

“I’m helping you because I don’t believe in what my brother is doing and I don’t care about the consequences,” Akita explained. They left the cage and made a right turn heading back the way Akita came from. They stopped at a brick wall; it was a dead end. Akita tapped three bricks and a rumbling sound erupted. The bricks slid and turned away in all directions as an opening to a secret passage appeared. “Come quickly,” Akita Whispered. She held up the lantern as two headed down the dark passage. “When this castle was built, they put in lots of secret passages and entry ways for quick escapes,” Akita explained. “My brother doesn’t even know about some of the tunnels, including this one.” Up ahead the path split in two, heading left and right. Akita motioned her to the left and Haruko followed with her arms crossed and biting her lip.

Can I trust her or will she lead me right to my death? Haruko wondered. Akita turned with a smile, “Almost there.” That smile is just so kind, I can’t see it in her heart to kill me, Haruko thought. The two made a right turn and were shortly stopped by another dead end. Akita tapped three different stones and the bricks did the same thing as last time, turning away in every direction. They entered into a small sitting room. There were velvet green armchairs all stationed around a roaring fire in the linoleum fireplace. A large maple wood bookcase was to their left and on the right was a wooden door. There were two large picture windows with the curtains open, revealing the moonlight. Akita poked her head around before leading her to the door. She opened it a crack as a guard walked by, but didn’t notice them. Akita exhaled as she solemnly pushed the door open and led Haruko in the opposite direction as the guard. Down the hallway were three doors. Akita opened the one to the right and led Haruko in. They were inside of the kitchen.

“This is as far as I can lead you, but there is a passage way that will lead to the outskirts of the east territory in the garden,” Akita explained. “Take these and put them in the statue shaped like a wolf.” Akita handed Haruko two gems, one red and one blue. “I also got you this back,” Akita exclaimed while holding out Haruko’s knife. Haruko smiled and took it from her, slipping it back into the sheath. “Climb out that window and head to the left, the garden isn’t to far, stay alert and hide in the shadows,” Akita whispered as she pointed to the small window on the back wall.

“Please come with me, you can escape too,” Haruko exclaimed.

“They’ll find me and I have nowhere to go out there, I’ll be fine,” Akita muttered.

“Thank you for everything,” Haruko responded. “I know how Ichiro treats you, so that’s why when I get back to my castle I’ll gather a thousand troops if I need to and at morning I’ll come back and rescue you,” Haruko promised. Akita just gave a smile and nodded. Haruko climbed on top of a counter and up to the window, sliding her body through it. Akita left the kitchen as the lantern light died away. Haruko was under the cover of the moonlight as she quickly headed for the garden as quietly as possible. Oh no, a guard, Haruko thought. She quickly darted behind a nearby black berry bush. The guard stopped and looked around before walking back the way Haruko came from. “That was close, I need to be more careful,” Haruko exclaimed. She bent down and tiptoed away from the bush. Up ahead she saw a steel fence with a gate. Behind it were flowers, bushes, and trees of all sorts.

A large decorative fountain was placed off to the side spewing water into a large cylindrical bowl. The Garden didn’t seem to be guarded. She sprinted toward the gate as fast she could. She was going too fast she slammed into the gate, her palms being scratched up. She reached for the gate handle, praying it was unlocked. She grasped the handle and turned it, hearing a ping sound shortly after. Haruko pushed the gate open and gave a sigh of relief before walking down the stone path heading for the center of the garden. Tall hedges were on both sides of the path as she reached her hand into her pockets and pulled out the two gems. She finally reached the center and the path turned into a big stone circle. There were three other paths all leading into the circle. Right in the middle of the circle was a statue of a wolf howling at the moon. She walked up to it and observed it, wondering where the jewels went. She then noticed that there were two holes where its eyes should be.

Haruko slipped the jewels into place as the sound of moving stone came. The whole statue slid backwards revealing a hole in the ground with stone steps leading down into darkness. “I guess this is my was out.” She slowly headed down the stairs. She reached the bottom with a thud, her sandals making a pat sound on the walkway. The moonlight was her guide, but shortly after she reached the bottom the statue slid back and closed the passage off.

Great, she thought. She couldn’t see anything, even herself. She held out her arms and felt the walls as she walked slowly down the tunnel. It was perfectly silent except the sound of her own breathing, her chest heaving in and out. Her sandal hit a rock and she tripped falling on her stomach. She slowly got back on her feet and pulled a mini flowered comb out of her sleeve and brushed her hair straight. She stuck it in her hair and kept walking.

Eventually, the tips of Haruko’s feet hit something. After realizing it was the bottom of a staircase, she walked up the steps, not knowing where she would end up. She felt the top of something blocking the way out. It was like a hard stone top of something. She used all of her might and pushed it out of the way, but surprisingly moonlight didn’t flood in which meant she must still be inside somewhere. She emerged from the hole into some sort of dank small room. Moonlight shined brightly under the door a few feet in front of her. The air smelt old and musty. She opened the old wooden door into a cemetery. She looked back and realized she had been in a mausoleum and the path had led her out of a fake tomb. She walked around the tombstones, the grass already wet from dew.

It will be daylight soon, Haruko thought. She exited the cemetery onto a deserted street. All of the houses had their lights out and the market stands on the side of the road were all closed. Up ahead not too far was the gate to cross over the river that led to the west territory, also known as “Uptown Caston.” “Damn, Ichiro has got his goons guarding the gate,” Haruko murmured. She walked a few streets over and decided to swim across the river. The river waters gushed by quick and no one was crazy enough to swim across it, but Haruko had no choice. With a big breath of air she jumped into the water.

The water current was very strong, but Haruko was stronger. She paddled right through the water and easily got out of the water. She brushed her hair and wrung out the bottom her soaking wet dress. She headed back to her castle, feeling glad to be back in her own territory. When she entered through the big doors into her own throne room her advisor Shinji had wide-open eyes along with some of Haruko’s subjects. Shinji was a middle-aged man with spiky black hair. Haruko just smiled and gave a wave before heading for the stairs to her room. “What happened?” Shinji asked.

“Don’t want to talk about it and he didn’t release his territory,” Haruko exclaimed.

“You look like a mess,” Shinji pointed out.

“Yes I know, lets just say their dungeons aren’t clean,” Haruko remarked.

“What!?” Shinji exclaimed. “He should know the rules of Kaigo which clearly state not to harm, kill, or imprison their opponents on an arranged meet!” Shinji exclaimed while holding out a dictionary open to word Kaigo.

“I guess he isn’t familiar with that word,” she responded as she walked up the stairs and out of sight. She collapsed onto her bed, knowing that tomorrow a big battle will arise and she knew she had to help Akita escape Ichiro’s wrath after what she had done for her. Haruko fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of her daring escape.

---

well, how was it?, I'm just setting the scene, next chapter will be up soon.