A Hard day and night
#1 of The Prince and I
"Twenty years ago, a brutal war between two mighty nations was finally ended by the exchange of Royal Family heirlooms. The Wolven royal family traded their" His dusty librarian of a tutor droned on about the history of his family as David reclined in the simple wooden chair awaiting his upcoming training session. The wolf sighed in his boredom.
His amber eyes looked idly towards the ceiling of the castle study. His finely groomed black fur was a testament to his nobility. He was perfect, from his toes to the tips of his ears, every part of him bred. Slim, but well muscled, just a bit above average height, six foot two inches to be exact.His mind was well above average, but he suffered the things that any lupine his age did. A lack of passion for the books and an affection for the sword.
"David, pay attention!" His tutor snapped the textbook shut, it was not as if the man needed it. Marcus probably had the entire thing memorized. "I understand this occurred before your time, but this information will be vital to you when you assume your fathers position as ruler of this nation. The history of negotiations between the Canine and the Felines may be applied in any future negotiations with them." The tutor said, clearly at the end of his wits on how to teach history to the prince. But the clock struck noon, marking the end of the lesson. David split into a broad grin.
"It's been a pleasure Marcus, but I promised to prowl the military grounds to raise morale and work with the new troops." David swept the books off the desk and into his satchel as he almost flew out of the room. The older wolf snagged the princes arm.
"You're a handsome boy David, and at age eighteen you should be on the lookout for potential wives. Be careful or you will find yourself married." Marcus grinned, and let his grip go. For an old grey wolf who lived in books, he was a pretty strong beast. The younger male filed it into the back of his mind. So long as he could avoid arranged marriages, he didn't have to worry about falling in love. At least, not with females.
It took all of six minutes and a light jog down a spiral stairwell to get him from the eighth floor to the courtyard, and as soon as he passed the portcullis, a soldier greeted him and helped him on with his light leather vest and swordbelt. What Marcus was to history, David Rhapsody was to swordsmanship. He strolled down the rows of standard issue soldiers with his hands clasped at the small of his back. His entire stride radiating confidence and surety of a prince. David quickly made his way to his elite squad, the best of the best of the United Canine Military, which meant they were the best swordsmen in the world. He would not be working their swordsmanship now, David decided on the spur of the moment to practice hand to hand fighting tactics.
"All right gentlemen, toss your swords aside and take off your leather, we haven't practiced hand to hand drills in a while. Remember that we need to fight with our entire bodies, and not just with our swords." They obediently obeyed their blademaster and, more importantly in David's eyes, the finest warrior in the entire world.
It would be three hours later before David let his troops leave the training session. He had worked up a sweat, even if it was a light one. As always, he had been challenged by an another warrior, possibly even one that had been in the war twenty years before. The majority of the older soldiers simply acknowledged his skill, leaving it to the young ones to embarrass themselves upon his swordsmanship.
The rest of the day seemed to fly by, as it did every day after he finished working out his soldiers. All that was left for him to push himself as hard as he could till dinner. It usually consisted of him putting on as much weight as he could feasibly manage and practicing the basic swordforms every trainee was taught. Exhausted, David would retire to the dinner table. After that, there was nothing left but to wash up for bed and then enter it. In that respect, this evening was the same as any other, but for once, there would be a change from the comfortable repetitiveness that governed the princes life.
David couldn't sleep, there seemed to be something in the air that night. The humidity was unusual for the regions summer, and entirely unpleasant. The royal wolf rolled from his silk laden goose down bed, idly pulled on that days pants and started for the door with no particular destination in mind. The corridors were empty, and absolutely quiet, the servants had long retired to their quarters, so within the dark empty halls.
David felt more isolated than ever. He knew that the night sentries were still awake, maintaining the torches. The guard were not as concentrated as it would have been had they any outright enemies. Now it was resigned to guards at the important parts with patrolmen in between. Unfortunately, that knowledge did not help him. A shadow seemed to zoom around the corner, and David would not have even known if it had not been for the simple luck of a flash of lightning illuminating the keep through its windows. There was a black clad creature against light grey stone.
The prince froze slightly, his ears perking up as he strained to hear the footsteps. They were there, but near impossible to detect even with his advanced hearing. The prince moved towards where he saw the creature, sniffing, and detecting the scent of dried deer blood. David moved quickly to the closest suit of armor, unsheathing its sword before following the shadow down the hallway. There was an alarm bell nearby, and he would be able to rouse the castle with a few careful strikes.
There was no conflict, as he found his way to where one of the bells would be found, instead he found nothing. He stared at the large space where the bell should have been. Each of the many bells were the size of a large kettle, and heavy to boot. David had a feeling that all of the other alarm bells were missing as well. Obviously, whoever did this, wasn't working alone and obviously had a mission. So what was it. What was the single most valuable thing in the place.
The princes eyes widened when he thought of what could be taken. Taken and not replaced. The treasury, in all its riches was replacable. However, the family heirloom of the Feline royal family would cause another war if it went missing. Both kingdoms would easily sacrifice their entire treasuries to avoid that. David started running full out towards the trophy room, blade exposed in hand as he cast away the sheath.
Just as he feared, he got to the heavy brass reinforced doors of the trophy room wide open and both guards unconcious. The prince stalked into the room, a scowl on his lips. What he found was a single humanoid, dressed in black. He was a little broader than David, and far more muscular with a good three inches on the prince. The thing wore a black metal demon mask that concealed everything but his catlike eyes, and that tail, impossible for it to be anything but a feline. Suddenly, David put it all together. The damned cats wanted their prize back. The prince growled, stepping back into his swordfighting stance.
"It seems to me that we have a problem" David said as he moved closer to the other creature. The cat tucked the emerald claw into an internal pocket, his large hand going around to pull his katana from its sheath. Holding it in one hand as he contemplated the best way to get out. The cat quickly countered a fast lunge from the wolf, stepping aside and trying to knock him off balance with a quick roundhouse. The prince was too good of a swordsman for that, and kept his balance as he went for a second stab followed by a kick aimed carefully for David's royal throat. He managed to wrap his fingers around that, and slash, just barely cutting through the tight black material. The wolfs eyes went wide again. White fur with black stripes. A white tiger, the rarest feline, and also one of the most skilled warriors ever documented, but they were supposed to be dead. David took a step back.
"What is your name?" The prince asked. He stood there, sword in hand for a few seconds, recieving no answer. "Well, answer me." He said impatiently, David just frowned as he was once again ignored. The prince charged in, and the trophy room became a flurry of careful calculated slashes countering each other.
Then, something happened to David Rhapsody that had never before happened to him. The sword was jolted from his hand, and it skidded across the stone floor with an odd decisiveness. The cats sword placed itself against the wolves neck. Then, a quick movement and the prince dropped, falling almost instantly into a state of painless unconciousness.