Author's Note: I've recently been checking my mail and I see a couple people who want to know when I'm going to continue writing my other story, Sun and Moon. The truth is I'm not sure; in my opinion it had completely gone stale and I'll have to do some thinking to actually get it going again well. For now, while I'm feeling the itch again, I'll be writing shorter stories that are 3 to 5 chapters long focusing on the Piper, Firefox, Basta, and sometimes Dustfinger in the years before Capricorn disappeared, along the lines of my other stories, A Piper Among Players or In Which Basta Gets Laid. They'll technically be prequels to Sun and Moon, but you don't have to have read Sun and Moon to read them.

-persianprincess11

Chapter 1

A light rain was just beginning to dampen the stones of Capricorn's fortress and the sun was starting to rise as three horses sped toward it at breakneck speed. The guards spotted them from a mile away, thanks to the fortress' advantage of being on a hill, and assumed it was a hunting party returning. After all, what fool not already a member of Capricorn's legendary gang of fire-raisers would dare venture to the stronghold of one of the most feared men in Lombrica and Argenta combined? Much less at an hour when only the maids and those on watch were awake?

As they reached the point on the road where the forest ended and they came into easy view of those in the fortress, the lead horseman slowed to a halt. The other two followed suit. The leader, who was a dark haired young man with a cat's yellow eyes, glanced backward at his companions, one of whom was fair haired and the other a redhead.

"If you're going to back out, now would be the time." His voice sounded like a challenge in the dewey air. He paused, waiting, but neither of the other two men spoke. "Well? Ivo? Fabio? Are you still with me?" Fabio, the redhead, merely shivered, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Yes. We're with you." Ivo, the fair haired one, finally said.

"Good. But before we ride on, we need to decide what we're calling ourselves."

"What do you mean? Aren't we just Ivo, Fabio, and Anzio?" Ivo asked.

"All the fire-raisers have nicknames. To make them sound intimidating." Anzio explained matter-of-factly. "I'll be the Panther, because of my eyes. You?"

"I want to be a minstrel, so I'll be the Piper." Decided Ivo.

Anzio snorted. "Really? Don't you think minstrels are kind of—"

"Firefox." Fabio spoke for the first time.

"What?" Anzio asked.

"Firefox. I'll be Firefox. Because of my hair." His voice was still shaking a little, but his eyes had lost their haunted look for the moment.

"Fine. And I guess you can be the Piper if you want." Anzio conceded, nudging his horse forward. "Let's go then. And let me do the talking!" he called back as they start to gallop toward the fortress.

Basta was an early riser, not because he loved mornings, but because his dreams made sleep very uninviting. He blinked the drowsiness from his eyes and started playing with his favorite knife to keep himself awake. When three people he had never seen before rode into the courtyard, however, he started and ended up cutting his fingers. At least it woke him up. He cursed and stormed over to where the riders were dismounting.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" he spat at them. The first turned to him and he inwardly blanched at his yellow eyes. Yellow eyes were bad luck, very bad luck indeed.

"We want to join you." He said, surveying the courtyard with an arrogant tilt to his head. "Take us to Capricorn so we can introduce ourselves and pledge our loyalty."

"Who said we want your loyalty?" Basta replied indignantly.

"Who's we?" snorted the stranger as he looked over Basta's shabby leather coat, threadbare clothes, and scuffed boots. "It's Capricorn who will have my loyalty, not you." The way his eyes swept up and down his small frame contemptuously made Basta want to stab him in the eye socket.

"I'm Capricorn's second in command, dumbass, so I would actually have a lot more of your loyalty than you thought!" he sneered, noting with satisfaction the flicker of dismay in the man's eyes.

"My friend is just tired from riding all night; he doesn't mean to be rude." Said the blonde more respectfully.

"I see. What are your names, then?" Basta asked.

"I am the Panther." The first man said hastily, as if racing to speak. "And this is the Piper," he nodded to the blonde, "and Firefox." He nodded to the redhead.

"The Panther? Please." Basta said coldly. "What's your real name?"

After a moment, his lip curling, the man replied, "Anzio."

"Then that's what well all call you. 'Firefox' is fine, and I guess 'the Piper' will do, but 'the Panther' is just silly." He was starting to enjoy this. "You can wait until Capricorn wakes up to talk to him. And don't bother putting your horses in our stables because you'll most likely just be riding right back to wherever you came from again anyway." He started to walk away.

"Excuse me, but what's your name?" called the Piper.

Basta stopped. "Basta." He called back, and stalked inside to have the maids fix him some breakfast.

The Piper followed Anzio's pacing with his eyes from where he was sitting. "You okay, mate?" he whispered to Firefox, who was next to him. Of course he knew the answer was no before he asked. There was an aura of shame and self loathing coming off his friend that even Anzio must have noticed.

"I will be." Firefox whispered. "Domenica won't, though." A muscle in his jaw spasmed at the thought of it.

"Hmmm." The Piper said neutrally. He paused, then—"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't really. Her father caught me before I could."

"Well, why did you try to."

"I don't know." Came Firefox's pained whisper. "I had had a lot to drink…I thought…I don't know!" his voice quavered, threatening to break.

"It's all right." The Piper murmured soothingly. "You're all right, she'll be alright, and I'm sure the whole goddamn town will be alright without us." Gazing about he noticed that maids here were beautiful. He caught the eye of a dark haired girl of about sixteen slinking toward the stables and smiled. She smiled back, flashing glittery black eyes. Damn.

"My parents…what will they think of me?" Firefox said so quietly he was almost mouthing the words, but the shame in his voice brought the Piper back to reality.

"Don't think of that now." Firefox nodded and took a sip out of a flask of wine he had brought along. The Piper looked up and saw a tall, gaunt man striding out of the main building toward them, followed closely by Basta. Anzio noticed as well and stopped pacing.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Capricorn stopped in front of them and inspected them as if they were horses he planned to buy. "What's your business here?" He was dressed much more impressively than the other fire raisers they'd seen, and he carried himself with the air of a prince. He was the most noble, important looking man any of them had ever seen, and Firefox and the Piper were speechless. Anzio, however, was not.

"My lord, we wish to join you." He said with more respect than the Piper had ever heard him show anyone. "I am Anzio, otherwise known as the Panther, and this is the Piper and Firefox."

Capricorn sized him up, recognizing him as the leader of their little trio. "You want to join me," he repeated pensively. "Well, Anzio—" A flicker of disappointment went over Anzio's face at the use of his real name. "I'd certainly love a few more followers, but you see, I only want followers." he emphasized. "I do not prize ambitions of leadership, questioners of my decisions, or really, thought, in general, other than about what would please me the most. Does that make clearer to you the kind of gang you're about to join, and the sort of person you would need to be to fit in?"

"Of course." Anzio nodded obediently.

"Good. And you understand I will not pay you for your services? Your salary is what you steal."

"Understood."

Capricorn glanced back at Basta, who kept his face neutral. He sighed indifferently. "Very well. You may sleep on the floor in the dining hall with the other new recruits. Each of you—" he turned to the Piper and Firefox. "has two weeks to prove to me you deserve to live under my roof."

"How should we go about proving ourselves?" Anzio asked.

Capricorn gave him a predatory smile. "Use your imagination. Now get out of my sight." He swept away, leaving Basta to direct them to the stables and give them work to do.