It was Dee Dee who realized something was wrong first. The quiet whining of the horses as they approached the gang of highwaymen reached her animal loving ears over sounds of the carriage and thundering hooves. The graceful beasts had caught wind of something that they didn't like... 
She turned to look at her brother who was staring aimlessly out of the window, a soft frown covering his delicate features. Had he been a girl Taemin would have quite pretty Dee Dee had always thought. His skin was as soft as any females and his hair was defiantly long enough. His eyes were intriguing also. It was hard to come across someone with Taemin's eyes they were rather a distinctive chocolate brown, they were strikingly beautiful and so easily conveyed all he felt.

But despite all this there wasn't a question to his masculinity. His face was shaped as was his body. His long hair was held up in what should have been a neat and complex ponytail, created by one of the servants, but due to the wild nature of his hair it fanned out in a messy bunch at the back of his head. Not frizzy mind you but the strands of fair hair seemed to go wherever they pleased. Taemin often wore it down when the choice was down to him and rightly so, so Dee Dee thought, it looked better that way. 

Taemin looked out into the darkness of night with little interest. He was not pleased to say the least. He hated his uncle... Well, perhaps hate was too strong of a word but he had a certain dislike for the man. He was horrible and had an even more horrible way of dealing with people, especially those lower than him. Horror stories had seeped out of the region he resided over, starving citizens, gross misconduct towards the people... Some had even called him a dictator... At first Taemin had failed to see why they had been sent to live with Alec over all their other relations but Alec did seem to be first of kin... unfortunately. Taemin silently questioned himself as to how long it would be before he had an outburst at his uncle. He took after their father and was easily riled up when people were mistreated, he was bound to hear about they way Alec treated the public and it wouldn't take much for him to burst... 

Taemin tore his eyes away from the window and looked towards his sister. Her hair dangled in loose soft curls about her face and down to her chest, the same orangey-brown as his own. She was looking out the opposite window, eyes finding little interest in the midnight world outside the coach. 
Really Dee Dee and him could have been twins, they were quite similar in looks, but where Dee Dee's eyes were that of a deep green, his own were, what he believed was a simple brown and on his face he wore a simple pair of glasses. He didn't really need them but he had often pretended to when he was little and now rarely took them off, so now they just felt comfortable there, but they were just for show and the lenses were simple glass. Sometimes he felt that by wearing them he could pretend to be the noble he was meant to be and hide his true personality. Of course this meant that everyone who knew him thought he needed the glasses, but he didn't.

Like him The Lady Devaro, Dee Dee was none to please about going to staying with her uncle. She found his ways vulgar and unfair but she was more reserved in the way she conducted herself around others. She would much rather have a "discussion" with her uncle about the way he treated people than an argument. She was at the age of nineteen now and her main worries at the moment were the piling up marriage proposals she refused to take. Despite her feelings for the public it was likely that for the moment she would do nothing about it... 

Taemin was dragged form his thoughts as the coach came to a halt and they heard the horses whine. Both him and his sister turned to look at one another with matching frowns before Taemin turned to peer out the window, into the darkness to try to see what the hold up was.

~*~

Minho tried with all his might to ignore the bickering of the two behind him. What they were arguing over was beyond him. Key had been complaining about Jonghyun poking him or something which had led to some strange cross between a poking/tickle fight and an argument. He didn't tell them to stop... Oh no... because then Key would turn on him and that was the last thing he wanted.

Beside him was Onew smiling at the two behind them. It seemed that he didn't find them as annoying as he did. They were meant to be on the look out for an approaching stage after all. Sometimes he felt that he was the only one who took this seriously... and he would believe it too if they didn't always get the job done, which they always did, expertly. 

Information had been leaked to him that there would be a stage coach arriving tonight with important individuals. He could only assume that this meant rich. The arrival had been kept pretty quiet so they could only be someone that Alec cared about. 

Since Sir Alec had killed his parents because of their inability to pay taxes Minho had made it his mission to annoy Alec in anyway possible. He stole from his personal treasury, made a mockery of his soldiers, destroyed his establishments and overall made the other hate him and he made sure Alec knew who was doing it by leaving his symbol everywhere he went. 

Because of Alec's infamous hate for him, Minho had become pretty well known... not as himself though... As "Flame". The name had been chosen by Key... something to do with his charisma or something... 

Onew, Key and Jonghyun all had alias's as well... they couldn't afford to let their real names slip out in case Alec were to hear them. He was always searching for them and the bounty on their heads was huge. 

Minho was snapped from his thoughts as the sound of hooves could eventualy be heard on the dark road. Jonghyun and Key promptly shut up and they all mounted their horses. 

They rode out to the center of the road and awaited the coach. Soon enough it turned the corner and Minho let loose a single flaming arrow. The aim was perfect, landing just by the driver's head. 

The driver panicked to put out the fire and the coach came to a stop in front of them. Once it was out the driver was seized by the shoulder and pulled to the ground by Jonghyun. Onew and Key set themselves the job of removing the luggage from the top of the coach whilst Minho took care of the coach's occupants. 

~*~

The two siblings fell silent. The two of them listened out for any sound beyond the walls of the coach, hearts beating fast as they heard nothing. Each was looking out a window cautiously, therefore it was surprising to say the least when the door on Dee Dee's side opened causing her to jump back. Her hand quickly sought out her brothers but she was not one to play damsel in distress. "Who are you?" she questioned. "What do you want from us" her eyes took on a sterner edge. She did not like the idea of being stopped in the middle of the night. They did not have anything of massive value on them, and anything of any value was on the back of the coach in their trunks. 

"We have no money on us" Taemin inserted. Dee Dee wasn't even wearing much jewelry, but both had heard horrid stories about men who stopped coaches at night and some of the things they did to the occupants... Needless to say, Taemin's hand was on his sword's hilt. 

He was excellent with a sword. He'd been trained with it from a young age, all nobles were and it was safe to say that it was one of his favorite hobbies. 

Minho had gone quiet... He had stolen from all kinds of nobles; young, old, overly wealthy, kind, evil, men and women... but the creature opposite had him stunned. He'd never seen such a beautiful woman before. Her eyes held no fear just a questioning fierceness. He hadn't even registered the boy in there with him, until he spoke...

"I am Flame" Minho said slowly. He suddenly had no desire to take anything from these two, so he decided to improvise. "I check all the stages that come this way and check their value" He smiled at Dee Dee before continuing. "And I see this coach is carrying quite the gem" Despite herself, Dee Dee blushed. The comment was so obviously aimed at her and she was glad for the gloom. The only light was coming from inside the coach and that itself was dim. She couldn't make out the features of the man outside the coach because of it, and the fact that a mask was covering his eyes. 

Taemin wasn't enjoying being ignored but something clicked in his head... Flame... that sounded familiar... He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her back gently, earning a look from their masked assailant. "He's the outlaw we were warned about by Alec in his letter..." he said softly and felt Dee Dee stiffen. 

"Oh I wont hurt such a delicate flower" came the voice form the door. "I'm interested in more... material plunders..." he knew the others were searching the two's luggage if there was anything valuable it would be theres so he could get away with not searching them. "Might I enquire whom I've stopped..."

The two siblings looked back and forth but it was Dee Dee who decided to speak. "We are the niece and nephew of Sir Alec, Lady Devaro and my brother Lord Taemin..." she said softly and if anything Minho's smile grew. 

"Really?" "Flame" asked. "Well then, I hope to see you again soon my Lady" he said with a small bow knowing the others were finished and the now searched bags were back on the roof. He took his leave and looked to the driver; who took off at full speed, highly eager to get away from the dark road. 

As the coach began to move once more, the two siblings settled down, Dee Dee staring at the door Flame had been previously standing by with a smile on her face. She'd had so many suitors asking for her hand recently all of them boring and dull. Flame had struck a chord in her somewhere. 

She let out a giggle and heard her brother chuff behind her in disbelief. She didn't care what Taemin thought. She would learn more about this "Flame"...

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Next chapter I promise there will be a lot less Dee Dee and a hell of a lot more Taemin and Minho... I just needed this chapter to set everything off ^^ 

So... thoughts so far?