Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ginzuishou ❯ Princess of Foxes ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Notes: `ello, everybody! Yet another fanfiction about one of our favorite couples, Usagi and Mamoru! Please R&R! ~ Tokyo Rabbit

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, k?

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The Ginzuishou

~By Tokyo Rabbit

Chapter One: Princess of the Foxes

Haven't you heard? The Keaton is on the roam again! Someone spotted him at the edge of the woods...." A towns person whispered to the blacksmith.

"The Keaton.... Good man. Too bad there's a bounty on his head." The blacksmith pointed his hammer at a parchment nailed to his wall, just like it was all over the town.

"What?" The man looked at the poster, "'10,000 Ces'? I doubt they'll catch him...."

The man walked away shaking his head, going back to his work from supply shopping. As he walked by he gave the parchment on last look. A menacing looking person stood, drawn on the poster, wearing a non-revealing cloak. Only two white eyes of a villain peered out from the hood. No one of Crescenta liked the posters or the man who put it up; Efron de Garon, the head of the castle guards.

The Keaton was a hero of the people, protector of the weak, and provider to the poor. In his heavy, hooded cloak of deep forest green, he raided from the unworthy and thieves, then gave everything he had claimed to those in need of it. Many a person in the kingdom had been helped by him at least once or twice. No one knew who he was for he never spoke and never showed his face to anyone-- and let them live.... But it seemed that the ruler of Crescenta didn't like him as much as his subjects. Those bounty posters were almost every where you turned and it made the people feel uneasy.

The man walked up the long main cobblestone road. If you were not careful, it was very easy to get lost in the grand capital of the continent of Alura. It was one of the most beautiful, and largest, cities of the world. But you really couldn't expect less from a castle dwelling town. Everything was in tip-top shape in appearance, but behind it all, it was really a different story. If you didn't keep the town clean, you were fined. That was only one of many taxes you could acquire.

His load was getting heavy as the castle worker finally reached the top of the gently sloping hill and walked through the gates of a grand, white stone wall. Then up a fine cobble walk way wide enough for six of him to have room to walk shoulder to shoulder. There was a grand step here and there and his breath was leaving him from the long walk. He walked between the gate house towers, then into the silvery, beautiful castle of his home. The soldiers recognized who he was so they didn't object to him walking in. As a servant in the castle, he took the smaller hallways and passages to the kitchen where he worked, as to not be seen by His Majesty, the king.

"There you are Roy! I was wondering when you would get here...." A robust and stalky woman said with her back turned to him. She was preparing that night's dinner.

The tall and lanky Roy sat his heavy satchels on the huge oak table in the center of the vast kitchen. He nervously looked at the other kitchen help, "Get out."

Being in charge of the staff, like the woman at one of the stoves, they obeyed him and scurried out of the kitchen to busy themselves with something else. When they left and Roy was sure that no one was eavesdropping, he spoke to the portly woman, "They've finally put a bounty on the Keaton's head, Rue."

When his wife heard this she nearly dropped her massive wooden spoon in the stew. She set it out to the side and turned to her husband, "What?"

"That bastard Efron put wanted posters up all over the city...." He sighed and began to unload his satchels, "It's making the people nervous."

Rue waddled over to him with anxiety and worry written all over her plump face, "What'd we do?"

"Warn the Ghost Fox," He turned to the much shorter woman and put a reassuring, callused hand on her shoulder.

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A tall, valorous man rode a horse he had traded for in the last town through the dense woods of Crescenta. From the looks of him, anyone could tell that he was a mercenary; strong build, his slightly armored body with the wear of a tunic and tights, iron greaves and all (their type seemed to keep the metal armor down do a minim to amplify the feeling of rebellious freedom they had). But unlike other mercenaries, he seemed somewhat clean and he had a certain air about him that made him highly respected in his business and by anyone who looked upon him.

That's why the eyes from above thought it best if this man were not to be tampered with. Their kind barely carried anything of value with them, for they only took jobs for money, no matter what the job, then spent it on supplies to carry on. That and this man wasn't a burglar.

But the Keaton's feet were falling asleep from keeping his crouched position all day long on a branch high up in the trees. No one had come along this dirt road and it was really getting boring and fast. He rolled his eyes at the slow business and tried to shift his weight to his other foot, trying to allow a little blood flow, but had miscalculated from the numbness and fell backwards!

Trained well he didn't really scream, but let out a small cry of terror as he plummeted to the ground far below. Thinking quickly, he touched the tree's pillar-like trunk with the tip of his boot and pushed off ever so slightly to position himself above the traveler.

The mercenary heard the human cry and looked around, hand on the hilt of his sword, only to be attacked from above. Something or someone fell bluntly into him, causing him to fall to the ground-- along with the mystery figure. His horse, being startled by the solid object's weight, reared and bolted down the road.

"Ug, damn...." The man sat up, rubbing his head as he watched after the horse.

Heart pounding, the Keaton positioned his feet under him to jump with an amazing amount of agility back up to the canopy, but as he jumped, something tugged and pulled him back to the ground... with a great rip...! The ghost fox, rubbing his throat looked at the mercenary and saw what had held him back, his cloak! It had been underneath the man and when the thief tried to jump, it tore off!

"What the...?" The mercenary stood with a look of confusion written across his face as he looked at the person who had assaulted him, then remembered that fact alone and snapped out of it, "What were you thinking?" He scolded, remembering his manners in front of a woman by not cursing or engaging in a fight with the stranger.

The now exposed Keaton looked at the tall man in a complete state of shock. Did he recognize HER? No, for he wouldn't have been from this area, but that didn't change anything.... She snapped out of it and reached for the hilt at her side and pulled out a long, claymore sword.

"Darien Shields, pleased to met you too," His voice dripped with sarcasm as he eyed the elegant sword, "You're not the average thief...."

Now that this `Darien' had seen her, he had sealed his fate and was about to meet his maker. No one unknown or untrustworthy could see her face or know the fact that she was a woman! She twirled the claymore in her gloved hand expertly, making it sing as it sliced through the air, showing him that she was serious. Slightly taken aback by the little peek show of her talent, Darien reconsidered trying to talk her out of making a fatal mistake.

Although, it was quite puzzling him to see this girl out in the forest alone and armed. She definitely didn't look like a thief or some whore looking for a throat to cut. His dark stormy eyes looked her up and down, taking her appearance in. She wasn't too tall, but she wasn't short in her slender figure. Her light gold hair was bound up in braids that wrapped around her head like a crown, with small tendrils swirling down.

She had noticed that he was sizing her up and possibly undressing her with his eyes. Feeling violated and even more so angry, she charged at him, lunging in perfect fencing form for the kill, but it was avoided easily. That had never happened to her before, so she stumbled somewhat when she glided easily past him.

"I see you're not going to be civil, but really, I have nothing of value." Darien tugged at his leather belt, "No money."

He was beginning to be extremely annoyed by this child as she attacked again and again with simple thrusts of her sword. Finally, as she stumbled past him again for the second time, he stuck out his foot and she fell flat on her face. Darien squatted down and took the sword from her hands then stood again, looking down at the two crystal blue eyes that were now glaring daggers at him.

"Now, shall we try to talk about this?"

"All who see my face must die!" She scorned and stood up, trying to think of what to do now.

The mercenary smirked, "Ah, so the angel speaks."

Her cheeks flushed and her anger reached a boiling point. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to kill this man with one of her daggers, so she would have to use magic. There hadn't been a full moon yet, which was coming tonight, so she couldn't use her most powerful magic.... She would just have to settle for something a little flashy and not quite as potent.

Darien recognized what she was about to do when she held up two fingers... this wasn't going to be good. It seemed that the little vixen still had a few tricks up her selves. His hand instinctively reached for the hilt of his sword and gripped the handle....

"Star Flare!" She commanded and an intensely bright light omitted from her fingers.

Reacting with speed and ease, he held up his sword vertically in front of him. The light fused and faltered, sending little fireworks and finally sputtered out. The thief looked bewildered at her fingers then at the dying spell, "What the hell happened?!"

"This sword reacts to small spells like that and absorbs them." Darien grinned and seethed his trusty blade.

"Ah, damn it." The girl dug into her snugly fitting tunic and pulled out her hand again, clenching something. She threw it at him and it hit him in the face.

He coughed and gagged, waving the sparkling powder away from his face, "What was.... Uh...."

She smiled as she watched him drop to the road and giggled, "Star dust, sweet dreams."

Reaching over, she picked up her sword and aimed it at his chest, in a small area between his chest plates. Her hand pulled back and was about to kill him, but something tugged at her heart. She tried again, and nothing happened, "Ah, crap."

Seething her sword, she looked upon the sleeping young man. He was quite handsome for a mercenary. His ebony hair fell across his forehead, his princely face looked quite adorable as he slept there in the middle of the road.... She let her eyes stray down further; he was very tall and strongly built.... Blood rushed to her face, making her flush. But his clothing was not that of a poor man's.... Dark blue material with silver stitchings around the collar.... On his chest plate, greaves, and shoulder pieces was some kind of design etched into the metal, almost looking royal. Then there was his cape made of some heavy material.... Who was he really?

Finally she shook her head, snapping out of it. This was enough adventure for one day, she was going home. Gathering up her torn cloak in her arms, she gave Darien one last look over and walked away.

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The Keaton walked through the stone passageways that ran throughout the whole castle. It was a good thing that she was one of the very few people who knew about them for she was using them constantly.

When she came to a dead end, she pressed a single stone knowingly and the wall slid to one side. She stepped out of the passage and the wall slid back into place without any hint as to it had moved. Feeling tired and frustrated at the wasted day, the fox girl stepped behind a folded screen and changed from her attire quickly into a white, silky dress. Then, Princess Serenity of Crescenta stepped out to comb her hair and put it up in a more princessly style.

Right when she had let her endless locks of hair flow to the ground, her father, the king burst into her room. Startled, she turned around from her vanity to face him, "What is it father?"

"The Keaton?!" He howled.

Serenity's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach but it still didn't mean that he knew anything, "The thief? What about him?"

The short man's face turned red, almost purple. King Uthar was funny looking man with his long gray beard and balding head, but when he was angry about something, he was not to be tampered with.

He stomped over to her changing screen and came back out with her claymore in his stubby hand, "What is this?"

"Why," Serenity smiled innocently, "It's mother's sword, you know that."

Uthar's face when another shade, "Don't toy with me girl! Tell me the truth!"

Ah, this was getting serious, "Truth about what, Daddy?"

The king let out a frustrated cry and went back behind the screen and stomped back out with her cape in his hands, "THIS!!!!!"

"Oh, that...." She felt weak. The Keaton was caught.

Serenity stood and bowed her head, afraid to look at him, "It's true, I am the Keaton...."

Uthar was about to yell at her, but saw that she was sincere. Standing there in a white dress that cut across the shoulders and her hair flowing down behind her, she looked like her late mother. His arms fell to his side in defeat.

"What will you do with me, now that you know...?" Tears slowly began to fall down her face. Now how was she able to protect her people?

He sighed and put the forest green cloak on her vast bed, "Nothing...."

Shocked, she looked at him, "What?"

"Nothing, no one will ever know...." Uthar shook his head. He was growing even softer, but he shook his finger at her, "But no more of this nonsense! You hear?"

Serenity smiled happily, "Yes, father!"

She bent down slightly and her father kissed her on the forehead, "Now come and represent yourself, we have a guest."

"Yes...."

The king walked out in his nearly waddling stride.

"PRINCESS!" Someone came blazing down the hallway and into her room.

It was Roy. He panted and stuttered, "Efron... you have...."

"Yes, I know about the bounties." Serenity turned to her vanity again. She decided to wear her hair down, but she picked up a silver comb and placed it above her ear to accent it, "And my father knows now."

"What?!" Roy nearly fell over.

"Yes...." She turned to her friend and smiled, "But that won't stop the Keaton for very long."

"But..." He was dumbfounded. She just said that she knew about the wanted posters.

"The king will not bring this shame to his family, so our secret is safe. Now, come. I must go to my father." Serenity said with her dazzling smile and walked out of her room, leaving Roy in utter confusion.

The fair princess walked down the hall way and thought to herself, `But how did he find out?' Only to have her answer as she came to the end of the hall way. Her pretty little jaw dropped as she saw the princely looking mercenary standing in the great hall, talking to her father!

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TR: I'm not really sure where I'm going with this one.... I got the idea from a manga of mine. I mean, it's not exactly like this, it's pretty different, but ya know. That and I kinda wrote this chapter a while ago, and didn't want to put it out there until I was done with the next chapter, but I feel bad for not having any of my other chapters to my stories done! So I put this out there to try and appease you all! But I'm working on them! I promise! I try to write AT LEAST a sentence on my chapters each day! Don't hate me.... I kinda don't like this story so far, but I have plans for it. Tell me what you think! Ja! ~Tokyo Rabbit

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