WAII! Hello, Maronne here!

Hmm, now.. What should I say? This is one of my first 'fics', as we call it. So don't flame me for this ;; I already know that I suck but I might as well give this a try.

-Oh yeah, R&R please! ^^ [It's the only way to find out how to improve ] Anyway, here we go! Oh, right. Excuse the title- I don't think it's related to the story in any way at all -_-; But oh well.

By the way, after an endless amount of editing and re-uploading, I finally managed to fix the first chapter.

Pointless

Chapter One: Bickering and Debating

Black.

That was the color of the night sky.

Not a star was shining- or dancing and smiling at the earth below.

Not a cloud was visible through all the dark.

The moon hid behind the 'invisible' clouds and remained behind them for the rest of the night.

And it was silent, not a creature stirred.

Not a sound was heard in the darkness of the night.

The white snow fell noiselessly onto the ground.

You could not tell if the night was peaceful, for the silence was too much that it was eerie.

…But the silence was soon broken by the sound of metal sharply colliding with wood.

THACK.

THUD.

"Done!" came the triumphant half-scream of a young lad, a young lad whose name was Rue.

He removed his weapon, a sturdy arc-edged axe from the block of wood he had been chopping to make firewood, and laid it gently onto the snow-covered ground. He paused a while after to look at the mess he had made. Chunks of wood were scattered on the ground, and little twigs were everywhere as well. Rue heaved a sigh.

"I'm done chopping the wood, but then I have to fix this up. Why did I have to be so messy?" Rue mumbled to himself, while bending over and picking up the chunks of wood.

---

By the time Rue had finished picking up the scattered firewood and bringing them inside a small yet comfortable cottage [Which he had lived in along with Claire, the woman he loved as a sister and Ruenis, his newfound younger brother], dinner was ready.

Rue took off his jacket and brushed the snow off his olive-colored hat before seating himself at the dinner table [next to Ruenis] and ruffling his [Ruenis's] hair, which was like his [Rue's] own- white-platinum [ish], only Ruenis's hair was shorter, as to Rue's hair was shoulder-length. [Although he ties it up into a neat ponytail].

"Argh! Why d'you keep messing up my hair!?" Came Ruenis's annoyed statement.

"What do you mean 'messing up my hair'- your hair is always messy to begin with!" Rue teased, grinning slightly.

Ruenis stuck out his tongue. "So's yours, only you just hide it under that ugly hat!"

Rue was about to fire back but he was interrupted by a dozen soft giggles.

Claire was covering her mouth with her hand, and she couldn't stop giggling. "I'm sorry you two- I couldn't help but laugh- it's just that you two look so funny when you bicker, almost like a husband and his wife, No offense!"

Rue glared at Ruenis in disgust, and Ruenis did the same to Rue.

"NO WAY!" They both retorted. Claire only giggled harder.

"Not a chance! Besides, Rue's wife is Mint!" Ruenis teased, a smirk slowly creeping up on his face.

Claire stopped giggling and froze in her seat, whilst Rue felt himself turning red. Really red.

"N-No WAY!" He stammered. Claire found herself bursting into another fit of giggles.

Rue shoved his hat over his face, and Ruenis's mischievous smirk only grew wider.

"Ooh, he's blushing.."

"SHUSH, Ruenis!", Rue hissed.

"Ooooh~"

"SHUSH!"

"Rue and Mint, sittin' in a tree, Kay-ai-ess-ess-ai-en-jee!"

"Don't even go there!"
Ruenis shook his head. "I don't know what you see in her, Rue.."

"Just shut up, already!" Rue snapped back.

"Ooh, yes, I love you too big brother." Ruenis slyly said, snickering as he stood up & excused himself from the table.

Claire had stopped giggling, however she continued to grin playfully.

Rue was banging his head on the table, muttering something about rubbing Ruenis's face in a tree infested by an army of hungry red ants.

"Oh, Rue- I just remembered!"

Claire's voice broke Rue's violent thoughts of revenge.

"Oh, uhm- Yes Claire?"

"Mint sent you a letter. It's in your room."
"Mint?" Rue asked. "What about, Claire?"

"I don't know." Claire replied, running a hand through her long brown hair. "But you had better read it just in case- it might be important."
Rue grinned. "Of course I'll read it, important or not. I haven't heard from Mint in a long time- I'd be glad to see what she has to say- even if it's some sort of threat to hand over all my money…", He said jokingly. Claire smiled.

"You DO like her a lot, don't you?"

Rue froze and mentally kicked himself. Why did he just say that? Now he had almost completely blown his cover.
'Come to think of it.. I HAVE been pretty obvious..' Rue thought. 'All right, Rue. Reality check: Do you like Mint? Yes, I like her a lot. But I just couldn't accept the fact. I;ve been denying myself since forever on that topic. Yes, I like her no matter how nasty she may be to others. Ruenis was right- what DO I see in Mint? She's mean, quick-tempered… So full of spirit, so firey, so friendly and cheerful, so positive.. so pretty, s- WHOA, BACKUP! What's wrong with you, Rue? You aren't THAT lovesick, are you? …Geez, all right. I don't just like Mint. I LOVE her. Admit it Rue, you've helplessly fallen for your rival…'

"Rue?" Claire said suddenly. She knew that look on Rue's face. He was debating with himself again.

"What? Ack, oh, Hi Claire- how did I get in here?" Rue stammered. Claire laughed. "My, Rue! You forgot already? Where have you been? What's going on in your head?" She smiled and laid her hand on Rue's head. "Do you like Princess Mint THAT much?"

Rue felt himself redden again. "I… I.."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? You..?"

"I.. I'll.. be in my room." Rue stammered, standing up and walking absent-mindedly to his room [nearly walking into the wall, too.]

From where she was standing, Claire smiled. "He loves her that much indeed.. Mint is so lucky."

-End of Chapter One-

--

Okay! So how was it? Like I said, this is only my first fic, so it may suck a bit..

But anyway! Don't let the first chapter fool you. Theres more to this than you think x.x so please R&R! They make me veeeeeeeeeerrrryyy haappppyyyy o_o; But NO FLAMES. Only good or constructive criticism. ^^

Thanks!

Maronne… The mad.