1 ~Chapter 1-1: The Midnight Thief And The Prince~

A hooded figure ran across the rooftops of the Capital of the Sun Kingdom as the moon was at its apex in the sky. Jumping from roof to roof and scaling buildings to reach her destination, the castle that lingered in the heart of the capital. She spotted knights walking all around the streets as she witnessed some harassing or assaulting some civilians doing innocent things. The masked female, also known as "The Silver Hood," by everyone, was out on a scouting mission to see if she could take anything from the queen to give back to the poor as the queen was nothing but a greedy tyrant. She pulled out a rock and her slingshot as she aimed to hit one of the guards. She let go of the slingshot band and the rock went flying through the air. The clang of the rock hitting the back of the metal helmet filled the silent air and the masked female hid from view but could still clearly see what was going on.

"What the hell? Who threw that?!" the knight asked in an agitated tone. The female snickered and shot another rock at the guard, this time hitting his eye. He yelped and held the eye that had been hit, blood trickling down in between his fingers as he pulled the projectile out. The other guards went over to them and as they were distracted, the Silver Hood took the chance to sneak past them into the castle. She got somewhere alone and laughed quietly, unknowingly having a pair of pale red eyes watching her. Silver Hood got past the rest of the guards and to the treasure room with no issues with getting past the guards, all the while the pair of pale red eyes watched her move. She got to the door and saw she needed a special key to open the door to the treasure room. Silver Hood felt a presence behind her and pulled out her dagger with her right hand as she turned quickly to point the tip of the blade at the prince's neck. She gasped as she felt a weird feeling inside her, but quickly shut that feel away.

"Why are you here?" she asked in a hushed voice, so it didn't echo in the hallway. The prince smirked and said, "If I help you with getting the key, you have to help me get something too."

"Is that so? Well, how about I do you two favors? Afterward, you can meet me at the Tavern outside of town if you want to hire me for something," she said. The prince looked confused for a moment and the Silver Hood put her dagger away. She slammed her fist into the prince's face and he stumbled backward onto the floor dazed. Silver Hood caught his crown and him before both hit the floor as the prince fell unconscious. She placed them both on the floor gently without a sound and swiped the key from his belt. She smirked under her mask and muttered under her breath, "That felt good to do."

She unlocked the treasure room door and opened it to see the floor littered with gold and silver coins, jewels and gems, and all sorts of shiny and expensive things. She pulled off her bag and opened it as her bag was empty of all the money she was going to take. Swiping money and jewels as well as gems, she began filling the bag with all sorts of riches as she took note of what was fake and what wasn't, so she took the real things and not the fake ones. She slipped out of the vault in time as the guards took notice that someone had snuck in right by them to the vault. Silver Hood ran throughout the halls and leaped out one of the windows to the nearby roof of the castle wall. She sprinted across the roof as she dodged oncoming arrows that came her way with ease. She laughed as a familiar pair of pale red irises watched her from afar teasing the guards for their poor aim.

The prince had awoken to her laughter and teasing of the guards. He felt his heart pick up slightly as he watched the carefree spirit playing around with the guards. It reminded him of a friend he had so long ago. The prince sighed as the infamous Silver Hood slipped over the wall and out of his grasp the catch, but… he was also glad at the same time that she had gotten away. He didn't want her to get hurt. After all, what she was doing for the kingdom was helpful even if it meant having to steal from the nobles, though he understood his mother was a tyrant. Taiyō still loves his mother dearly to him even if she hasn't been around for him like he would want her to be.

Taiyō sighed as he was about to walk away only to see a familiar guard behind him. He chuckled and asked, "Aren't you going to help me out here, Derek?"

Derek pulled out his sword and pointed the tip at the prince's neck. Taiyō backed up against the open window's ledge and held his breath. He laughed nervously and asked, "What are you doing, Derek?"

"What I was hired to do," Derek spoke in a cold, bitter tone. Taiyō was cornered and only had two choices, jump or get killed. He sighed, knowing the choice he had to make. Taiyō stood on the ledge of the window and opened his wings. He fell backward out the window and flapped his wings at the last moment before he hit the ground. The speed he flew at made him look like a red and white blur. He gracefully flew through the air and landed on the roof of the building across the way. Derek knew he would be dead if the prince said he attempted to assassinate him. All the guards froze and looked up at the prince who seemed to be about to attack Derek before he froze.

"THE PRINCE IS A TRAITOR!! HE'S BEEN WORKING WITH THE SILVER HOOD TO RUIN THE KINGDOM!!"

Taiyō knew he would be killed as the castle guards aimed their weapons at him. He turned on his heel and sprinted to the other side of the roof. Dodging any arrows shot his way, he flew off into the night. A familiar silver-haired female from the shadows of a nearby alley, watching his escape. She was hoping they would meet again. She was hopeful that it wouldn't be a dramatic second meeting then.