So, this is the first chapter of the new story. AN will be at the end. EDIT: THERE WILL ALSO BE A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES!!!

Thanks to jsakurachan1 for her awesome betaing and giving this story its name!!!

Edit II: A wonderful FANART has been made for this fic by yukimiya! You can see it here: .com/art/FF7-VincentXYazoo-116115546 (link is on my profile as well). Thank you very much!!!

1

The hot, acrid stench of rotten garbage, feces and sweat, combined with the salty sea air penetrated his already immune nostrils as he shuffled his way down the road. Navigating around a large pile of intestines from the butchery to his left, the boy made his way along the muddy street barefoot, hurrying through the dark narrow alley. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder he made sure that he wasn´t followed and dived back into the shadows of the crumbled shacks. Lately he had been feeling a strange tingling on the back of his neck from time to time that made him feel like he was being watched.

Grumpily, the figure pulled his face deeper into his hood. The one to blame for his very justified paranoia was none other than his brother who, out of some ridiculous sentiments, hadn´t had the guts to finish off the guy from one of their last coups. Really, his brothers had become rather bothersome recently…

Turning into another side alley, the boy followed the distant noise of singing and screaming drunkards that steadily led him towards his destination. He and his pestering siblings had decided to meet at a run down tavern by the peir they had checked out earlier at the day, for it seemed the perfect location to find fat, easy prey. Hopefully Loz and Kadaj would refrain from ruining it this time, he didn´t feel like being pursued by another bloody fag.

Hidden by the shadow, the tatter clad figure reached one of the main streets which was surprisingly empty, but then considering the late hour of night and the bad reputation of the port, it maybe wasn´t. It wasn´t like he was here willingly either, but oh well.

Apart from some drunken men further ahead and a beggar snoring in the mud the street was all his, so he was completely taken off guard when he bumped into a large shadow that suddenly emerged from one of the many cramped side alleys. Losing his balance on the slippery floor, the child fell into a puddle of dirty water and other contents one would rather not think about, cursing under his breath.

Another layer of filth was added to his already smeared face and angrily he snapped his head back, growling "What da hell-"

The following insults were stuck to his throat however, as he became aware of the person that had caused his downfall being none of the regular drunkards, but someone who didn´t really fit into this notoriously rundown and poor area of the city.

Before him stood a tall, dark haired young man of approximately 25 to 27 years. Instead of the rough linen most of the commoners were dressed into, he wore a fine pair of dark trousers, stuck into soft leather boots. His upper body was wrapped into a large, red cloak that surrounded his impressive figure. Long, black hair was held back by a golden clasp in his neck, though some strands had gone loose and defiantly strayed over his handsome face.

With a quick, estimating look the boy on the floor decided that this man had to be filthy rich, and a greedy, cold gleam almost instantly appeared in his eyes. Though right now, he had to worry about totally different things first.

Bracing for the impact of the boot into his stomach that was sure to come for his malpractice to get in the way of the higher ups, he curled into a ball and gritted his teeth. But instead of beating the hell out of him, a low, calm and gentle voice reached his surprised ears, asking "My apologies. Are you alright?"

One green eye looked at the man from under matted, long hair that was so scruffy that one couldn´t even tell its colour. Was this some kind of sick joke or something?

Hn, better just play along with it, maybe it would be over soon and he could take care of his own business again. His annoying brothers were still waiting and they hadn´t started a coup for some nights now…

Reluctantly nodding, the boy slurred a submissive, "Ain´t nuthin happen at all sir..," and slowly dared to rise from his puddle, still eyeing the other warily. But instead of throwing him back into the mud as he had expected, a gloved, elegant hand was reached out to him.

"I am glad to hear that. Please let me help you up."

The figure was smiling at him! Blinking, the boy looked from the fair face of his attacker to the outstretched hand. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed that they were entirely alone now. The gaze shifted back to the cloaked aristocrat and, hesitantly, a small, filthy and calloused hand nestled into the firm grip that pulled him from the mud.

Rising to stand on his bare feet again, the boy wiped his running nose with his torn sleeve, and spit to the side, waiting for the other to say something or to release him from his presence. He didn´t know what the man was doing in such a shabby and dangerous area, above all sauntering around so casually in his fancy gear that screamed for some loitering murderer to stab him. Unconsciously, the boy's fingers reached for his own knife that was hidden by his clothes, coldly observing every move the man made. This was a once in a lifetime chance and with no one around right now…

"What is a little miss like yourself doing out on the streets at such a late hour?" The man's voice remained friendly; he calmly looked the person he had run over up and down. The boy, startled, withdraw his hand from the knife, a small smile slowly forming on his full lips. It wasn´t so much that the man had mistaken him for the wrong gender that surprised him; in fact he would have been quite concerned if the other had noticed him to be male, for apart from his long hair and the ragged dress he was wearing, his voice and appearance was very 'girly,' as his imbecile brothers liked to put it. Besides, his outfit and behaviour were meant to make him look female.

What had caught the boy's attention was the subtle, inquiring undertone in the mans voice, one he was very used to and that had surprised him, coming from that sophisticated fella…

Summoning his most alluring smile, the boy stuck out his hips, going into full seducing mode and drawled "Getin knocked ova by a hell uffa handsum´ guy for starta's"

The other man laughed a low, pleasing chuckle, his dark eyes gleaming with mirth. "I see…" He said, sizing up the figure in front of him again. "So, what do you intend to do now, after you have accomplished that task?"

"Dunno," the boy shrugged nonchalantly, the calculated movement making the ragged cloth that was his dress slip from his shoulder and revealing a triangle of dirty, but nonetheless smooth skin."Ya tell me…" he purred with a suggestive flutter of his long dark lashes.

If he could get the man near the bar so that his brothers could see him…

"Mh…" the dark haired man amusedly pretended to think hard about the possibilities until finally settling for a no less suggestive answer. "Maybe I should take care of that ruined clothes of yours since it was my fault that they got all dirty?" Which was a blatant lie, because they hadn´t looked much different before the boy's encounter with the puddle.

Smirking, the 'little miss' gloated inwardly. Now to get him to the bar… And then crush his friggin sophisticated skull.

"Fine with me. But what ´bout a drink or sumthin first?"

"Very well," the other agreed, and after a light bow, he offered his arm to the boy. Snickering in a cute and seemingly shy manner, the child wrapped its smudgy arm around the elbow. This was going smoothly…

Leading the boy towards the middle of the street, the cloaked man turned to the left and started walking down in an idle manner. Stiffening, the boy slowed down, protesting "Ey, da bar´s da oda way…"

Frowning slightly the man stopped, remarking, "Is that so? Actually, I would like to relocate our… little rendezvous into more private quarters."

Looking wary suddenly, the boy licked his lips. Now, this wasn´t good. According to their usual procedure, he should have make the poor pig that Kadaj had picked hammered, then lead him with the promise of a little more mature fun into a dark alley where his brothers were waiting. After Loz would have knocked the guy out they would have enriched themselves with everything their victim had with him and make a run for the next city…

Sensing the supposed prostitute's reluctance, the man purred reassuringly "Do not worry, we will be all alone, there is nothing to fear."

Casting another calculating look at his host, the boy's brain quickly processed the situation. Though he was approximately 15 years older, he didn't look much a threat where strength was concerned. Being an aristocrat, he surely wasn´t a match for someone who had lived amongst the worst of the scum of the underworld for all his life. The boy decided finally: he could take him out alone, and when the man took him to his house stuffed to the roof with expensive things he wouldn´t have to worry about food for the rest of his life… Besides, this time he wouldn´t have to deal with his pestering brothers who stubbornly insisted on not killing the victim and wouldn´t listen to his perfectly rational reasoning that it only meant trouble later if they kept them alive…

Donning a sweet smile to his features, the smaller eagerly encouraged the other to lead to wherever the older wished to take him.

tbc

Soooo... The first chapter. Compared to the rest, it´s a really short one....

This is AU, and the Middle Ages are fictional here. Although I use references to the actual European times (a period roughly between the 13th and 15th century), this will not be strictly historical of course. Also, I am aware that certain characters may appear (slightly) OOC in the beginning but this is due to the fact, that their characters have to develop over time.

A/N: I was just adviced by my awesome beta jsakurachan1 that I probably should say a few words about the European Middle Ages. In my eurocentric mind (I am from Europe….) I did not consider that there might be people around who are not familiar with European history. I said that this is AU, but for the atmosphere and certain circumstances it is important to know, I guess. AND, since I happen to visit a seminar about the Middle Ages right know, I am even a little competent;) But don´t worry, I won´t disgress (I hope). Everyone who knows about the time anyway can stop reading now.

The Middle Ages: According to my prof, the living conditions throughout Europe were very different from region to region but I´ll just shamelessly generalize :D So we have mostly acriculture in Europe and people (90% of the population) live in the coutryside where they work for a lord and kind of belong to him, meaning they are not exactly free, but they aren´t slaves either. There is a strict social hierarchy that says that the priests held the highest position, followed by the king and his aristocrates. Last came the peasants. Women weren´t even mentioned. Cities in this are a rare thing and by todays standards they are small (usually we have 1000 to 3000 people living there, some bigger cities inhabitated up to 18.000). Europe is in the iron grip of the catholic church at that time (although there are some struggles with the emperorship, but it doesn´t matter for the story), which means that they have absolute power. Also about 98% percent of the people are illiterates (apart from the clerics, monks and some rich aristocrates), so they have to beliefe what the church tells them about the bible. Even so, books are rare because they have to be copied by hand and are mostly written in latin. People are very superstitious at that time, at least the lower social classes. As I already mentioned the Middle Ages were incredibly dirty. People didn´t have that much time to care and they didn´t know that it was bad for health either (thus leading to the three pest waves that killed approximately 50 to 75 million people). There was no waste water system in the towns and the carbage just piled on the streets. For example at one time people started to feed their children beer as soon as they were weaned from mother milk, because the laws for brewing beer made it cleaner than the actual water from the wells. Needless to say that the life expectancy didn´t exceed 20 to 40 years for women and 40 to 60 for men very often.

I think that´s been the most important information. If you still have questions, please pm me any time!

Review please?

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters.