Marriage is not a word, it's a sentence-a life sentence.- David Minkoff

Yuuma watched the king of Zemlina pace back and forth with a nervous sort of fear. They were alone in the king's private hearing room, aside from the guards that lined the wall. On the large stained-glass windows, An almost angelic figure coming from the sky was pulling up a blonde young man. Said blond young man was the Prince of Zemlina, and today was his wedding day to the Prince of Makonis, the kingdom in the clouds. Well, it would have been his wedding day had he not ran off.

"Surely he told you something?" King Faker looked to Yuuma, Prince Kaito's friend. Well, as close as he had seen his son get to having a friend, he sometimes talked to the travelers son. King Faker was fearing that Yuuma's fantastic stories of traveling may have enchanted his son. He cupped his head in his face and let out a groan as Yuuma shook his head back and forth nervously. No, the prince hadn't told him where he was heading to. Just that, 'he couldn't bear to marry a stranger. That he would give up the title of Prince and the kingdom to escape it.' Yuuma didn't think Kaito was unreasonable, marrying a stranger would be scary! What was also scary was how the King had shouted at everyone when he had discovered his son had fled.

"We...We need their resources for the war with the Piedrans. If we don't marry into their alliance, I fear they could side with the Piedrans and take personal offense to cutting off the arrangement." Yuuma had always seen the king composed for the four years he had lived in the kingdom. When he was younger he traveled with his father, but when he went missing Faker, an old friend of his father, had allowed him to stay and be fed at the castle. Yuuma felt like he was almost a part of this family too. He had bonded with the youngest son, Haruto, who was often sickly. And Kaito cared deeply for Haruto, so naturally seeing Yuuma care for him made him at most respect Yuuma a little. Yuuma didn't want war to start, either, but what options did they even have...?

"Sire, If I could propose something...?" An adviser that had been quietly standing in the doorway stepped forward and Faker's eyes widened.

"I will accept any ideas at this point, please go ahead." The little mousy looking man adjusted his glasses nervously and nodded.

"Well your highness, I'm correct in saying that this would be the first time the Makonis have contacted us in person? They've sent letters, but have they seen us in person, or more specifically, Kaito?" The king realized what the advisor was saying and gaped.

"You're suggesting we send a proxy to act as my son? While it's true they haven't seen his face, asking anyone to take someone's place in marriage is a bit of a stretch. I suppose, there are a plethora of young people who would want to see the cloudlands and become royalty, but it can't be anyone! Because that person would be the future right-hand of Prince Astral. I can't just send anyone, the wedding is today! They will send an airship here in less than two hours!" He cried. Yuuma looked at the king, a certain thing his father said coming to mind.

"Hey, your highness! Don't give up, we just need to Kattobingu through this!" The king gave him a tired smile, and Yuuma was realizing just how old he looked now.

"Kazuma always said that, too. Unfortunately just 'Kattobing-ing' won't really help here, I'm afraid." Yuuma tightened his fists and shook his head.

"No, it will! If you need me to, I'll do it!" Nearly every head in the room turned to him, did it get colder in here all of a sudden, too?

"You...Yuuma, you realize what this is, don't you? You'll be living in Makonis forever, marring a stranger. With all the niceties, there will be twice the struggle. You won't know any of their customs, or anyone there. You will have to stay there until you die, and have a lot of responsibilities." Despite what he was saying, Faker looked like he was seriously considering sending Yuuma. Said boy nodded solemnly.

"I understand! Somebodies gotta do it, I'm curious to see Makonis anyway, only a few people from down here get to travel up there anyway! I'll do it, if you need me to." Faker let out a relived sigh and stood from his throne, walking to Yuuma.

"Kazuma raised you well. It wasn't a mistake to take you in. You're a good boy, Yuuma. Thank you, you have all my gratitude. You're certain, then?" Yuuma beamed up at him and nodded a final time. Faker silently turned to the guards and gave them a pointed finger.

"Go, make preparations. Get the royal clothing for Yuuma to wear. Get the seamstresses. Get anyone who can sew within an hour's time. We have a wedding to prepare for."

"Need'a ride?" A dirty man leered down at a hooded figure with a dirty-toothed smile. The hooded man looked up and smiled.

"I do. Yours will do nicely." The man's smile dropped slightly and he tilted his head.

"Ay, ask nicely and I'll be glad to let ya share the seat-oomf!" He landed backwards in the sand, and stared up at the stranger pulling himself on his horse with grace. "Oi, what're think you're doin'?!" The man smirked down at him and grabbed the reigns.

"You asked if I needed a ride. Now I've got one. Your service to your country won't be forgotten." He rode off into the blazing hot desert, the mad shouting growing further behind him. He rode for what seemed like hours, sweat rolling down his neck. He stopped under a small tree next to an oasis, looking to the blue sky as the horse gulped up the water.

An airship floated in the sky, and he knew its destination. It was heading for Zemlina, to pick up the prince for his marriage. Pushing the hood out of his face, said prince smiled. For the first time, Kaito felt free.

"Father..." A yellow-eyed boy looked up at his father, no emotion showing besides slight frustration only expressed through his eyes. If his father noticed, he didn't comment on it.

"Yes, Astral?" His voice was a hard monotone. His gloved finger's touched the chapel windows, staring at the airship that was touching down. His son, Prince Astral was getting married today, as arranged by his grandfather many years ago. Astral sighed and stared out the window, people from the groundlands unloading and excitedly chatting, his own people filling the right side of the chapel already. He knew so little about these newcomers, yet he was expected to marry one. He felt apprehensive. This 'Kaito'...he had only heard about him in letters. What kind of person was he, really?

"They have arrived." Ephilias looked down at him and Astral stayed silent. This late, there was no use arguing. This was going to happened, regardless of what he wished. He could only hope Kaito was someone who he could tolerate.

Music was playing from a large harp, and everyone was taking their seats. The traditional garments he was wearing felt like anchors, choking and drowning him. Everything was happening too fast, everyone's eyes were on him and a veiled figure walked towards him in clothes too warm in color, and unfamiliar. This was one of the first times in Astral's life he was filled with doubt.

As was wedding tradition, the figure would stay veiled until they sealed the marriage with a kiss. After that, it was for life. Standing across from the stranger, Astral did what he could do best and observed, taking in every little detail he could. Black hair, but were those strands of red in the front? He could barely see through the veil but it looked like he had red eyes, out of all colors! His hands were gloved but in the space between his suit, if it could even be called that, he could see this boy was tanned in contrast to Astral's own ghostly white color. He was everything unfamiliar to Astral. And the pale prince had never been overly religious, but in that moment he prayed to God that somehow, this would be stopped. And God heard his prayer.

"Don't throw the anchor down, moron!" God, was everyone on this ship incompetent?! Well, aside from him. That's why the captain had put him in charge of this operation, because he actually had half a brain!

"Shouldn't we, if we're goin' to the wedding, though?" The big one, Semimaru, asked.

"Idiot! We aren't just coming here to wine and dine and congratulate the newly weds! We're coming here because we happen to be under orders to get Kaito!" He threw his spy glass at the over-muscled man, it hit him right on the head and the man blinked and rubbed his head.

"Oi, sorry! Don't get ill wit' me, You'll need some muscle 'ere." The man grumbled and perched on the ship and looked down at the chapel again. Everyone was inside already, perfect. He gave the rope around his waist a yank, making sure it was secure and handed the end of it to Semimaru.

"You drop me, Your head with feed the guppies! I don't want to come back with a single bruise, got it?!" He hissed, pointing a finger in the opposite direction, to the sea. The man nodded hesitantly and looked down at the building. It was perched among the clouds, blending in with a shiny white surface.

"Y-yeah, you sure you know what you're doin'?" It was like 40 feet down, and there was no way of knowing if they had security or what...

"Shut up, who's the one in charge here? Just worry about holding that rope." He stood on the ledge of the wooden ship, staring down the chapel. Then, he jumped.

Yuuma felt like he was going to puke, just a little. He was trying to treat this as an adventure. He wanted to get along with this guy he was suppose to marry, but across from him he could see the pale man's eyes narrow slightly and stare down at him. He strummed his fingers on the bouquet nervously waiting for the ceremony to start. If this guy looked so disgusted, why were they doing this? Yuuma wasn't one for politics, but couldn't they just make some sorta agreement without this? The older man who had stood to the side stepped forward, clearing his throat. The chapel was eerily silent.

"Decades past, my father had fallen for a human who lives on the land. Naturally, this was seen as a taboo. Human's were unknown things to Astrals, and they were forbidden to marry. He knew he had a duty to his land, and stayed here. After he passed away, we began finding the letters. Things we uncovered indeed surprised us, the human's weren't all that different, and certainly no threat to us. With the constant threat of war from the Piedrans on both sides, it is in our best interest to form an alliance by marriage. Our grandfather's would have been pleased to find although they couldn't be together, their bloodline will fulfill their wishes. Astral, Kaito. Do you have any words you'd like to say?"

Yuuma watched Astral look at him almost pleadingly and he smiled nervously under his veil. Astral turned silently to the priest and shook his head. Yuuma did the same, not sure if he was suppose to say anything.

"Very well, you may seal this lifelong marriage with a kiss." Yuuma's breath hitched as Astral leaned down and touched his veil, gently pulling it over his face. Up close, he looked just as nervous as Yuuma felt. The silence was broken by a woman in the front row slumping forward, seemingly fainting. Everyone looked on in surprise, only for more people to start passing out. The guards from both kingdoms started panicking and shouting, and the building erupted in chaos.

"Huh? What's goin' on?!" Yuuma yanked the veil off- it was getting a little irritating, and looked over at Astral.

"I'm unsure, it seems like there's some sort of gas, cover your mouth and nose!" Yuuma jumped slightly, surprised to hear Astral's voice for the first time. He bundled up the discarded veil and pressed it against his nose and looked around trying to find the source of the gas, or whatever it may be. The large glass window panels behind Astral and Yuuma shattered, a cloaked figure swinging on a rope. Astral grabbed Yuuma and started pulling him away.

"I told that brute not to give the rope that much leeway- my nose!" The man groaned, rubbing his nose with a whine before pulling out a small dart.

"It seems this is a planned attack, we need to escape!" Yuuma nodded and started running towards the door with Astral when the doors were closed by two scrawny men from the outside. Yuuma pounded on the door and groaned when it wouldn't open. Astral and him were the only people not passed out, and Astral looked like he was swaying slightly. Yuuma was trying to think fast, what could he even do? His foot bumped something as he was backing up and his eyes fell on a guard passed out with a sword in his hands. Yuuma grabbed it and pointed it towards the hooded figure. He could hear chuckling and looked over at Astral who was leaning on one of the pews with a slightly pained look, like he was trying hard to not pass out.

"Who are you, and why are you doing this?!" Yuuma stood in front of Astral trying to distract the man in case of assassination attempt. Yuuma realized with a sinking dread the man might also be here to kill 'Kaito'. His fear was confirmed when the man started talking.

"Why, Kaito! I'm insulted you don't remember me-" The man paused, pulling up his hood. Weird green hair and glasses. Yuuma had no idea who it was. The man looked him up and down with surprise and furred his brow. "Who the hell are you? Where's Kaito?"

"Uh, well...I'd love to tell ya! As soon as you tell me why the heck you're doin' this!" He didn't back down and he could hear Astral make a questioning noise behind him.

"What do you mean...you are not Kaito?" Astral whispered. He was slipping towards the floor, eyes nearly closed. Yuuma gave him a weak smile.

"It's okay, I'll take care of this guy. I...Kaito's not here." Astral gave him a confused look and passed out. The man scoffed.

"What a waste of time! So Kaito didn't come to his own wedding? I can't leave empty-handed, though..." He looked thoughtful before smiling back at Yuuma.

"If the king sent you in his place, you must be of some value. Nothing personal!" Yuuma was about to ask what he meant when something pricked his neck. He brought a hand up to it and yanked out...a dart? Yuuma opened his mouth to say something in protest when he felt dizzy. Everything started blinking with colorful dots, then went black all at once.

Kaito had ridden for hours without stopping, through the harsh desert that ran through the back of his father's lands. Those would have been his lands. He exhaled and pulled onto a small rocky beach for the night, leading the stolen horse to water. He sat on a rock beside his, watching the sea water lick at the sand. It was a chilly night, Kaito only had the small bag of supplies he had had time to grab. Looking on a rock curiously, he found another bag. Looking around, there was no one around. Who had left it here? Deciding he'd look in it when it got lighter and he could see, he picked it up. His fists tightened around the bag as he thought of his father, his brother, and his kingdom.

He thought it ridiculous to marry for an alliance. It went much deeper than that, though. What his father had done for so many years in secret, in the lowest levels of the castle...Kaito had discovered it. He had wanted to get out, to not rule a kingdom on the brink of war, being forced to leave his brother and live so far away in the clouds with the Astrals of Makonis. He wondered if Haruto though him cowardly to flee like this.

Would he hate him for not taking him along, too? Haruto was sick, Kaito knew taking him wasn't an option. He wouldn't be able to get him the medicines he needed here. He wouldn't be able to make sure he was safe. It was the best option to let him stay at the castle, however much he hated it. Kaito looked to the stars and gritted his teeth. He was going to return to the castle eventually, expose what his father had done. He would show Haruto he wasn't a running without a purpose.

He jerked his head back to the water when he heard a slapping noise, and saw a tail jerk under the water. He grabbed the horse's reigns and pulled it back from the water in case whatever that was wasn't friendly. The tail had been larger than a dolphins and looked like it was a deep blue color, scales reflecting the moonlight. A large fish, maybe? He pulled a small pistol he had stored away in his belt and pointed it at the water cautiously. To his surprise, a boy emerged from the water, gasping for air. His lips were almost blue and he was shivering, the water had to be freezing on a night like this! But when the boy saw Kaito, he smirked.

"Didn't anyone teach you how to fish? You don't use a gun." He ran finger's through his hair and approached the shore cautiously.

"You...it's too cold to be bathing this time of night. Didn't anyone teach you that?" The boy laughed and nodded.

"Fair enough." Kaito watched his suspiciously as he walked on shore. He was wearing odd clothes, a purple shirt soaking wet was pressed on his chest, along with plain swimming trunks. The boy looked around with a scowl. Kaito watched him with slight amusement.

"Looking for something?"

"I swore I put a bag around here somewhere. It had my clothes and things. I'd prefer not to freeze to death..." Kaito held said bag up, and The purple-haired boy held a hand out expectantly. Kaito tossed it to him.

"Thanks." He immediately started looking in it.

"I didn't take anything." Kaito scoffed. Though, thinking about it if someone had his bag he'd check it too. It was a normal reaction.

"Yeah, I see that. I'm Ryoga, this beach happens to be owned by my family. Were you planning on staying here for the night?" Kaito blinked and looked around. This place belonged to someone? It looked like no one managed it, the grass over grown, too many rocks and no houses or buildings nearby. He looked back to the teen and nodded slowly.

"Kaito. That won't be a problem, will it? I'll leave if you want me to, but..." He looked over at his horse who had cozied up a spot in the sand and was sleeping already, "You might have a harder time getting him to leave."

"It's not a problem, I guess. Nice to meet you, Kaito. The name rings a bell...Have we met before?" Kaito realized a bit too late he really hadn't thought about the dangers of using his real name. If the word got back to his father of his location, or if someone recognized him...

"I don't think so. Yuuma Kaito is my full name, I'm just traveling for a bit to take a break from life, you know?" The lie slipped out easily. He didn't think Yuuma, the boy who had lived in the castle with Haruto and himself would mind if he borrowed his name for a bit. He would understand.

"Yuuma..."

The purple haired boy narrowed his eyes and Kaito felt uneasy by the way he was being stared at, like Ryoga was about to jump him.

"That's not a common name. I knew a Yuuma, once." Kaito froze. It was a coincidence, right? Yuuma had lived within the castle walls for years. This boy looked the same age as him, so if they did know each other it was as children.

"Hn, well know you know another one." He started gathering driftwood and made a small fire while Ryoga sat on a rock, watching the sea looking deep in thought.

"Did you see a big fish when you were swimming? I saw a tail that looked bigger than a dolphin a while before you got out." Kaito asked.

"I didn't see anything. Of course, it was probably a shark. Heh, I hear they're common around here." Kaito frowned and continued trying to light the wood. Ryoga turned and started walking towards the small caves near the beach. Kaito watched him go, more questions in his mind than ever. 'It's not my business, he's a stranger and I need to stay to myself for now.' Still, Kaito couldn't help his curiosity.

"Going somewhere?"

"Home for the night. Until we meet again, Kaito." Kaito blinked and it seemed like Ryoga was gone. Kaito swallowed and turned to his horse, who had woken and was whinnying. He stroked its mane gently, sighing. What a mysterious boy. Everything about that encounter was fishy.

"Who the hell is this?"

Heartland flinched at the captain's tone. The young boy he had taken from the wedding, the not-Kaito boy was seated in the chair across from the captain's desk, still unconscious and tied to the chair.

"It's Kaito, sir!" The captain's face didn't change, he still looked pissed off. Or maybe he looked more pissed off, if that was possible.

"That isn't Kaito. Do you think I'm stupid? Who the hell is this?" What was really freaky was the captain was speaking with a calmer tone than usual. Heartland was afraid that any second he'd start manically laughing and make him walk the plank. (Did they have a plank? He didn't want to find out, actually.)

"W-well, he was getting married in Kaito's place. He said Kaito wasn't there. B-but if they sent this boy in Kaito's place...It seemed like Astral didn't know it wasn't Kaito...Surely he must be able to get a large ransom?" The captain rested his palm on his chin and looked bored.

"Hm, Maybe. I don't think it'll get Faker as riled up, but they money'll be good..." He cast a glance to Yuuma who was stirring slightly, waking up from the drug induced slumber. The captain made a shooing motion with his hand to Heartland. "Out, I'll handle him." Heartland rushed out, pleased he wasn't punished. Well, not yet at least.

When Yuuma woke up, it went without saying he was confused. He had..been getting married? Was that a dream? He moved to look around but was unable to. Ropes bound him to an uncomfortable wooden chair. Something wet slashed his face and he sputtered.

"Drink." The glass was shoved in his face again and he shook his head angrily. He wasn't gonna just drink something a stranger, much fewer people who kidnapped him, wanted him to drink! He opened his mouth to protest when the water was poured in and a hand pressed on his mouth.

"If you want the poison to wear off faster, drink water. You should be thanking me for even offering you some, I could just starve you." He swallowed and looked up at his captor. It wasn't the weird man who had taken him, it was someone different. Shirtless with big purple eyes and messy hair the color of apricots, like his dad used to pick straight off the tree and let him snack on on hot summer's days. He had a slight olived-colored tan and was looking at Yuuma curiously.

"Sorry to interrupt your wedding, but it wasn't really your's in the first place, was it? Who are you, and why were you posing at Kaito?" Yuuma looked away sourly.

"I'm not going to tell the guys who kidnapped me! Let me go!" He wiggled against the ropes, but they were tight and the friction hurt his arms.

"I wasn't really giving you a choice on whether you got to answer." Yuuma froze as a cold blade was pressed against his throat. He could feel the tip pressing, drawing little droplets of blood. "Now, would you like to talk? I can kill you, then go get Astral for answers. If he doesn't talk, maybe I could go and slaughter everyone in both of your kingdoms, what do you think?" He giggled and Yuuma felt his blood go cold.

"I'm Yuuma. I'm standing in for Kaito because he ran away. I've lived at the castle for a while 'cause the king was a friend of my dad, who's missing. The king didn't wanna offend them and start a war, so I went. Got anymore questions?" He gritted. He really didn't want to answer but he didn't want anyone to die because of him...

The man hummed and sat on the big mahogany desk, thinking. "Is that so? I've never met Kaito myself but he sounds like a brat. Can't put aside his fear of commitment so his country won't go to war?" The man laughed and Yuuma felt furious that someone would just talk about his friend like that.

"Hey! Don't talk about him like that! I'm sure he had his reasons..." Yuuma was curious about that himself actually. Speaking of reasons, "Why did you guys want to kidnap Kaito in the first place...?" The man grinned down at him.

"I have my reasons. Anyway, Yuuma. Let me formally welcome you onto 'The Barian', a one-of-a-kind specialized pirate airship! Plundering, stealing, and the occasional murder! " The captain looked at Yuuma with a glint in his eye.

"I'm Captain Vector, let's hope your stay will be full of many thrills and kills, shall we?"

Note: Hey everyone! I've started a new story, as you can see. I hope you enjoyed the prologue there, and didn't get too confused! Anything you did get confused about will be cleared up later, I promise. This is my first time doing a mulitichapter AU like this, I'm trying to make it a mix of adventure, fantasy and steam punk (with the whole airship thing, ahah.) Anyway, I'll try to publish a new chapter each week since I'm also still doing the 30 day OTP challenge. I hope you enjoyed, and I'd love feedback if you're interested! Motivation is great. :)