OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! I HAD 48 HITS ON THIS STORY ON THE SEVENTEENTH!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY THAT MAKES ME!?!?!?

…One thing though, I want you people to REVIEW. O.e I need insight, criticism, opinions, ect.

This is about another week later. So we are about three weeks from the beginning of the story. I am so awesome! And just so you know I tried and failed epically to draw a picture of Gouro and Miroko. Heck, I'm not even completely sure about their images. So yeah, check it out if you want but it's bad and I might change what they look like.

^-^ Anyone else who wants to draw them (the way you picture them), go ahead. Just tell me. I'd like to see them and comment! :3

Image: http : // killian-kila . deviantart . com / art / Bleh-126417840 Yeah, you see the name? Bleh. Can you guess why? XP

Miroko was getting tired of Gouro ignoring her. At first she had been glad that he wasn't killing her, but now she decided it was better than the infuriating silence. Even when she talked he just ignored her! Miroko did not do well in the quiet and she lived off of attention, Gouro was going down.

But how would she do it? Bracing herself for death, she hissed, "Gouro-kun, talk to me!" He stiffened but she didn't back down, "I'm tired of all this silence, nya! I'm sick of you ignoring me! We are on a mission! Nya! Nya! Stop putting your own feelings before the mission, nya! If you keep ignoring me I'll leave and go to some village, nya! And then you know what? I'll probably become some whore that has-"

She didn't get to finish, Gouro slammed her against a tree, his eyes burning with fury. Why was it always her he got angry with? He never lost his cool around the others! Never! She didn't understand why he hated her so much!

"You shut up! This whole time I've been doing everything in my power to keep myself from killing you! Do you know how devastatingly hard that is? Do you realize how every single thing you do makes me want you more!? Do you not realize your blood smells better than any I've ever come across?!"

Upset, she screamed, "You think I asked for this?! I never wanted to attract vampires! Never! It's not my fault! Just because my mother was a damn dragon-" She gasped and covered her mouth, horrified. She watched him just shut down, his eyes blank. No expression. She gulped, "Gouro-sama?"

His eyes were completely blank, but she saw his claws and fangs grow. His pupils narrowed, his stance became more defensive. She paled. He didn't think-he couldn't-she would never-"Run." Though his voice was completely void of emotion, she felt all warmth leave her. He was going to kill her.

Tears burned her cheeks. She bowed her head, "Do you really… Hate me so much that you-you-you'd kill me because of what I am?" She looked up, "You're horrible! I hate you!" She cried and dodged around him, "I'll save Emiko-chan myself, then you'll see who the traitor is!"

And then, Miroko ran.

Ryuu was still overjoyed at the fact she would talk to him. He danced and sang and happily hugged her whenever she spoke a word. After the first couple days she stopped fainting, but she still wasn't quite used to him glomping her whenever she opened her mouth and a sound came out. It was unnerving.

But she couldn't tell him to stop, not with the grin he gave her. She turned to him and opened her mouth, his eyes lit up and she blushed, "Ryuu-kun-" His eyes only exploded with more joy, "don't you think we should stop and eat now?" He grinned and glomped her.

"Ne, whatever you want, Hime-chan!" He still called her Hime-chan, but she didn't mind. He had called her that for two weeks, she didn't expect him to break the habit. He'd called her Emi-chan or Emiko-chan but he'd only said it a couple times. "So, you need food, ne?" He looked at her as if waiting for a present.

She sighed but gave him a smile, "Yes." He rewarded her with a blinding smile and let go, jumping into the air, "Ryuu-kun!" She called and he looked down at her, still grinning but it was more feral. Of course, seeing as how his horns and wings were out gave away that he was ready to hunt, "Why do you like me talking?"

His voice was rough but sincere. "You have a pretty voice, Hime-chan." Then he left. She blinked and then blushed darkly. Sometimes, she really hated compliments. She could never get rid of her blush for long. She sighed and hummed slightly off-key to herself. She didn't know just when she realized she wouldn't be able to leave the dragon, but when she did that was it.

Her father wouldn't send anyone after her. She knew that. Kohaku might come after her and might even bring some of her friends but she would simply tell them the truth. Ryuu was a good friend and cared about her so she would ask if they minded him staying.

If he wanted to, of course.

She kept forgetting to ask him. It always slipped her mind. Almost as if something was making her forget, an outside force she didn't recognize. Ryuu popped up again and the princess completely forgot her train of thought. She took the meat from him, a strange sense of foreboding, and began to cook.

What was I going to ask him? Wait, I think-"Hime-chan, did I do good?"

"Of course." She replied and sighed, Nevermind…

Akane wasn't quite sure how she got in this situation. One moment, her and Kohaku had entered the strange ball to gather information and the next men had swarmed her.

She was not beautiful. Her hair was a rather common shade of brown and her eyes a soft grey, men normally seemed to go for brighter colors such as blue or green and gold or red. Her hair was pretty straight as well, and though down for the ball, was normally kept up.

Even her dress was a rather plain blue-grey.

Not too mention her skin was rough from working. And tanned from all the sun lately. Faint scars could easily be seen along her body and she was a little taller than most girls. Things she had been told not many men found attractive.

Which is why she was a at a complete loss at why the men wanted to dance with her. She had, of course, thought up scenarios; they were also looking for information, they were interested in why she had come with a boy that refused to take off his mask, or perhaps they just wanted to dance with someone new. But whatever the reason was, she was starting to become hated by the women.

She couldn't refuse a man because it was possible that she'd find out some important information about Emiko, but she also didn't like the glares women would send to her. Kohaku was doing just as well with her, many girls falling over each other to dance with him… Which only made her even more hated since he was the one who brought her to the ball and they were not related.

She sighed and walked away from her last partner and to her surprise a girl approached her with a genuine smile. "Would you like to dance with me?" The girl's eyes were bright with amusement and Akane immediately became suspicious, but held out her hand hesitantly. Her grin grew, "Don't fret," She snickered, "I'm just tired of how these idiots are treating you. Like your some kind of trophy… Or competition. As if."

She blinked. This girl had a right to be confident. Her hair was long, red, and cascaded down to her back in waves, her eyes were a soft shade of green, and her skin was smooth and pale. Akane's opposite in many ways. "My name is Akane." Both her and Kohaku had agreed not to give out their last names, but first names were fine. Their names were common.

"And mine is Aomei." Her grin grew, "Though I have no clue why I was named that, I would've preferred the name Miroko but a name is a gift we must keep, so I use it." Akane spun Aomei, another difference was size. While Akane was fairly tall, the redhead she danced with was absolutely tiny. "So, a warrior, eh?"

She immediately stopped, "What are you-"

The girl silenced her with another grin, "It 's obvious, but nobody here seems to notice. Most of the boys here are lazy and you seem like a hard worker, though almost all of them know you'll be leaving. They just want to impress you, maybe get you to leave Mr. Tall, Dark, and Snarky."

She sweat dropped, "Was Kohaku-sama rude to you?" That would be bad. This girl seemed to have a slight grasp on what was going on, what if she knew something… But that would mean… For a moment, Akane saw small little points on the girl's ear, but it was gone in a flash. If she didn't know better she would've thought of it as a trick of light. "Do you know anything?"

Aomei's smile seemed unending, "Caught on, have you? Silly mortal," She twirled and Akane couldn't recognize the inhuman move she did next. Almost like water, the girl flowed into the next move with unnatural grace. "I don't have to help anyone." What is she? "If you give me an end to this story, I'll tell you the information you need."

Akane nodded cautiously and when a man walked up to her and held out his hand, she shook her head and continued to dance with the strange girl. "…This story… Is it human?" A laugh was the reply of the strange girl and that laugh made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

It was beautiful but she could tell it was hiding something. "Perhaps. Are you ready?" She nodded. "Once upon a time there was a princess whose fate was to never be with the prince she loved, but still she did all she could to save and protect him. A witch also loved the prince and despised the kind princess so she sent her dark knight to kill her only competition.

"The dark knight was more than willing to do as his sister demanded and kidnapped the princess. Once she learned of her fate, she did not beg for him to let her go, instead accepted her fate and claimed to know her love was hopeless. The knight though, could not kill her after he learned of her feelings, and let her go. The witch, furious at her brother for releasing and helping her rival, locked him away.

"Neither prince or princess knew of the knight's fate, simply thought he had left the witch's side. Years later, the witch broke down and attempted to save the prince, earning his love. They married and the pure princess stayed by their side to help them. The dark knight could only watch from his prison as everyone forgot him and slowly began to die, his humanity faded away and he lost all hope and light.

"That was how the princess found him. He attacked her, hating her for the doom she brought him. The redeemed witch was stunned as well, for in her happiness, she had forgotten her brother. The prince, in a desperate attempt to save his wife and dear friend, took a blow to the heart and blood rained down-"

"Stop!" She cried, upset. Where was this tale going? It seemed to be growing more and more tragic and she asked, "Will I be allowed to finish the story?"

The redhead grinned again and Akane went cold. A tragedy. She had never liked those kind of tales, stories where only sadness and horror and fear were allowed to stay. "Yes. Now listen." Akane nodded and turned down another man, determined to hear this story. "The kinight cursed them angrily, screaming at them and blaming them. The witch, miserable, held her prince close to her and cried.

"The princess, though, did not shed a tear. Something had snapped in her, a rage and some form of pity she didn't understand. So, softly she spoke to the knight. 'What has become of you? Why are you like this? We did not mean to forget, I did not know. I never meant for this to happen. What happened to the dark knight I had met? The knight that had still had a deep kindness in his heart?'

"Outraged, he told her his heart had been devoured by the darkness but she didn't believe him. She told him that if that was true then he wouldn't have been so hurt by what they had done. Angry, yes, but she could see his hurt and she was determined to save him from himself.

"The knight only grew more furious at the princess. How dare she be so pure, how dare she stay so untainted while he was stained black. The witch, seeing his attack, threw herself in-between him and her old rival. The knight cut her clean in two. Finally, the princess cried. The knight, realizing the true horror of what he did, cried out and threw his sword aside.

"He begged for the princess to take his life, for he, being a coward, could not. The princess, though, only cried harder. He shouted at her, demanded it of her, but she refused. Then, a tear rolled down his cheek. And then another. And still she could not kill him. A man, one who had watched the whole time, one who could have helped them and saved them all, laughed at this.

"He laughed and cursed the princess, turning her into a robin and throwing her into the sky. Then, he cursed the knight to live until he found the princess and they forgave themselves and learned to love… Now, will you like to finish the tale? The story of the Dark Knight?" Akane had stopped dancing and stared at the grinning girl. "Choose wisely, for your answer might just effect lives."

Softly, she asked. "It's real, isn't it?" Aomei didn't answer, just smiled. "I can't end that story, not if it's still going. It wouldn't be right. Even if I gave them a happy ending, it either wouldn't do anything or shatter another fairytale, right? You're a storyweaver, aren't you?"

The girl laughed, "No, but my grandmother was and left this story unfinished. You're right of course, ending it in any way could cause many problems, which is why I've never done so. I can't tell you the information you're looking for but I can give you some you aren't. Beware the story I just told you. If you ever meet a dark knight, help him search for the robin… 'Else the price to redeem his sins will be paid in your blood and tears."

Akane stared at the girl as she danced away, still smiling. A man came up to her, looking tired and hopeless and she agreed to dance with him. No answers came from him, but she didn't ask as many as she could. She was still trying to figure out what Aomei meant.

…XP

Do you think Aomei is good or bad? Or is she mutual? What about the story? Do you think it's real? What does it mean? Is it as confusing to you as it should be? XP

And what about Ryuu and Emiko? Why does she keep forgetting? What outside force is causing her strange amnesia? AND AREN'T THEY SO CUTE!!!?!?!??!?!?! Lol, I like this couple! But remember folks, you still get to vote for who ends up together. Just… Ship teases are a passionate love of mine and I can always do oneshots. XP Lol.

AND OMG MORIKO RAN AWAY!!!!! And she's part dragon… Who saw that coming? XP And he snapped again… He's not so stoic, after all. Lol.