*deep sigh* I haven't written fanfiction in years, I'd moved on to making my own work... but then I had this idea and now, here I am. Gonna make this very clear, this might not get finished! I also couldn't come up with a better title so, without further ado, I present to you:
Trigun and the Magic of Pegasus
Queen Rem walked through the castle, ornate gift box in hand as she approached the bedchambers of her son. As of that day, Prince Vash was 18-years-old. Tears burned behind the Queen's eyes and her lip threatened to tremble as memories of another prince's 18th birthday replayed in the front of her mind. Despite the pain, she maintained a joyful disposition as she refused to let anything ruin her little boy's birthday.
Two guards stood at attention, one on either side of the door to Vash's bedchambers. They bowed to her and Queen Rem nodded back at them in turn before lifting her hand to knock on the door.
There was no response but that didn't have to mean something had happened. No, Vash was just a daydreamer and he could get lost in his own head so easily. The ornate gift box trembled in the Queen's hands as she pushed the door open.
"Happy birthday, my dear!" she said as she walked inside, only to see an empty room – perfectly normal except for the bedsheets tied end to end from the balcony, gently waving in the wind "Vash!"
The gift box fell to the marble floor as Queen Rem ran to the bell pull and yanked the rope. Bells chimed throughout the castle, alerting everyone to the Prince's absence.
"The Prince is missing! The Prince is missing!" members of the Guard yelled as they dove into action.
Queen Rem's Prime Minister, Luida, and the Captain of the Guard, Brad, watched from atop the stairs in the Grand Hall as the search parties formed.
"Not again," Brad bemoaned, running his hand down his face "That boy can't walk five steps without tripping over his own feet, how does he keep getting past my guards?"
"Vash can be very lightfooted when he wants to be,"
"Don't give him so much credit, he's more like a stampede!"
Only a few miles away, within the mountains that guarded over the Castle, was a winter wonderland. The interconnected rivers and lakes had frozen, as had the waterfalls and it made for an ice-skater's paradise. Blades cut over the surface of the ice, smooth like a mirror and the wind blew through spiky blond locks, bristling over a darker undercut. A loop of gold hung from a single earlobe and a red coat trailed behind as Prince Vash built up enough speed to leap over a boulder trapped in the ice, spinning several times before landing gracefully on the other side. He grinned as he turned away from the obstacle, only to feel something catch on his boot – followed by a screeching yowl and something landing in the snowbank with a thud.
"Oh, no! Are you OK?!" Vash called as he skated over, coming to a stop to peer into the hole in the snow "Hello?"
A dark shape shot out of the hole, into Vash's face and knocking him onto his butt. The damp, shivering creature scrambled around his shoulders before burying itself within his coat. Vash cautiously peeled back his collar and looked down to see a bedraggled black cat – no older than a kitten barely weened – curled up against his heart.
"You poor thing," he cooed "What are you doing out here?"
Keeping the kitten tucked in close, Vash rose to his feet and skated around the area in search of anything. A cat in search of her kitten, a woodsman's cabin missing it's rodent control but there wasn't anything.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to come home with me," Vash decided and the kitten gave his chin a tentative lick "You'll need a name but I'm not very good at those… hmm…" warm memories of stories by the fire came to him "…my mother used to read me stories from her homeland, about a black cat called Kuroneko – how about that? Kuroneko?" the kitten gave a quiet mew in response "Kuroneko it is! Come on, we better get you inside,"
The sun was setting by the time Vash made it back to the Castle. The Grand Hall was quiet in the evening as he crept towards the stairs, skates in one hand and Kuroneko in the other. He made it up one flight and turned to ascend the next, almost reaching the top when a familiar voice called out to him.
"Vash! Where the hell have you been?!" Brad's booming voice echoed.
Vash winced and put on the best smile he could muster as he turned to face the Captain of his mother's Guard.
"Brad!" he cheered "Been a while…" they'd seen each other just that morning "…what are you doing here?" he works here, idiot "How can I help you?"
"Luida! Your Majesty!" Brad yelled over his shoulder "He's back!"
Within a minute, Queen Rem came running down the opposite staircase with Luida right behind her. Seeing the fear on his mother's face, guilt twisted around like a nest of vipers in Vash's gut. The smile fell from his face as he hurried down the stairs to meet the Queen on the landing. The moment he was within arm's reach, Queen Rem pulled him into her embrace.
"Oh, my precious boy," she said, voice trembling "I was so worried,"
"I'm fine, Mother, I always am," Vash said.
"…this time," Brad grumbled, glaring out the window as if expecting an attack from the heavens.
Queen Rem put her hands on her son's shoulders and pushed him away, looking at him with quizzical eyes. From within his jacket, Kuroneko poked her head out and looked around at her opulant surroundings.
"I made a friend!" Vash grinned "Her name's Kuroneko, like the stories you use to tell me – remember?"
"What an adorable little thing," the Queen said, reaching out a shaking finger that stilled as Kuroneko rubbed her head against her "Where did you find her?"
"In the middle of the mountains," Vash answered without thinking.
"The mountains?!" Brad yelled and his eyes zeroed in on the skates in the Prince's hand "Of course! Skating!" he groaned again "Very winter, it's the same with you! Do you have any idea how worried we were? How scared Her Majesty was?" Vash looked away in shame and Brad took a deep breath, then looked at the Queen "Your Majesty, with your permission, I think it would be for the best that Prince Vash's skates be confiscated,"
"Yes, I fear you're right," Queen Rem agreed.
"I'm sorry, Vash, it's for your own good,"
"No, it's for your own good!" Vash yelled, although he didn't fight it as Brad pried the skates from his fingers and he turned away, running up the stairs but stopped to yell one last thing at his mother "I don't know what you're so afraid of but it's ruining my life!"
Vash ran off in the direction of his bedchambers. Queen Rem fell to her knees, her skirts pooling around her as she cried into her palms. Luida knelt down beside her, wrapping her arms around the Queen's shoulders.
