Princess of Silver Sands

Book 01

Chapter - 01 - Encounters of the Worst Kind

Written By: K. L. Seunnapha

Test Read By: N/A

Edited By: N/A

Chapter One
Encounters of the Worst Kind

Darkness fills the early morning skies of the East Continent, one of the four continents that circled a small ocean created not by nature, but a terrible war thousands of years before this time. The war not only separating them from the single landmass all four were once part of, but the world as well. The four collective continents which used to live as one, is home to a great majority of the pure human population, but, it also holds one of humanities greatest dangers…

Bloodcurdling screams pierce through the night, accompanied by clashing of weapons and the sickening sounds of screaming and tearing flesh. Another gruesome snapping of bones and ripping of a human body probed the so called quite of the night. Huge powerful jaws chewed contentedly on a human body, a knight that had lost a battle for his own life.

An un-naturally large creature lay down in the walls of what had once been a well kept palace of royalty. The creature slightly resembled a dragon if one were too stared at its strange figure long and hard enough. The creature chewed on the warm body enjoying its recent kill and taking it’s time savouring the flavour.

The large horrific looking creature was not alone. Several strange creatures surrounded him, each one frightening and deadly in its own way. Dead bodies and pools of blood filling the floor of an ancient stone castle they stood in, the castle that once was shelter and a haven for the rulers and members of the East royalty.

A high pitched scream fills the air startling the creatures. The demons quickly turn towards the sound, to find a young woman’s body being thrown to the ground. A strange dagger of black solid energy skewered through the forehead. A large leather winged demon that resembled a powerful human man stares down at the figure with cold look on his face.

The other demons upon seeing the body began to panic. The leather winged demon doesn’t look in their direction, he seemed to know well of the worry the others had and thought very little of it. He simply turns away from the body speaking calmly. “She is useless to us.”

The female demon kneels beside the winged one’s victim, looking it over for any signs of life, after finding none she turned back to her leader confused, not understanding what had just taken place. “What have you done!? You’ve killed the princess!!” She quickly gets to her feet walking towards him talking to him with an angered tone. “Without her we will never be able to open the gateway!”

The large winged demon cares little about what he’d done. He simply tuned away ignoring the worried expressions on the others. “She is not the princess.” The other demons fall silent, this information shocking them. “She is one of the princess’s guards posing as her. The Princess herself is not here.” He turns his head back to the body now surrounded by a pool of dark red blood. “This woman was nothing but a decoy.”

The lion like demon shakes his mane, growling in a low tone. “We should have expected that the humans would not make this easy.”

The dragon turned towards him. The news was not at all surprising, after all, he was a creature that had fought and lived through many wars with the humans, probably the oldest of the demons left. “Humans are killed easily, yet they are so persistent when it comes to clinging to life.” This was a fact he knew from experience. After all, if humans were not of this nature they would have already long ago won the war.

The winged leader swings his hand forward. “Search the castle. There may be some clues to her whereabouts here.”

All of the demons aside from the female scatter and begin searching the castle, some more quickly than others. Maybe they were just quicker on their feet, or maybe they understood the situation better than others. For the princess was their turning point, and it was she, that was most needed.

The winged female turned to her leader, the annoyed look not having yet left her face. “My lord, dealing with this key has never been easy. Even on the day she was cursed we faced problems.” She turned back to where the demons had once been gathered. “We can’t afford many more casualties… if more problems rise-”

The demon leader lifts his hand to stop her from talking. “There will be no more problems… and if there are problems they will be insignificant ones. We are only a step away from the revival of our power. Nothing the humans can do will be able to help them.”

As the demons searched frantically for any clue that would lead to the princess’ whereabouts they failed to realize that eye were watching them. An old wizard perched high on a ledge overlooking the large open throne room watched the demons quietly from his hidden location. The wizard looked to be an ancient man, his beard longer then his robes with many well defined wrinkles aging his face. His thin fingers were wrapped around a magic staff with a sharp design to it. He stood as still as a statue watching the demons quietly, remaining unnoticed.

As soon as all the demons were out of the old man’s sight he turned away, retreating back into a secret tunnel leading to a spiralling staircase that he haste-fully began to make his way up, into one of the castle towers where he resided.

The domain of the powerful wizard was in a tower decorated with shelves of books and overrun by vials of potions. Desks were filled with scrolls and the definite scent and feel of magic hung heavily in the air.

The wizard stopped at one of his potion filled desks opening his arms, silently casting a spell affecting the area within his two hands. The dust and dirt smoothly lifted off of his desk, gathering between his withered fingers, swirling as if in a strange dance, and then taking the shape of a young girl with long black hair.

He began to speak to the collection of dust, the strange particles being a way of communication to the young girl formed by the dust. This girl was the real princess the demons were so frantically searching for, and it was his duty to warn her of the danger that would be fast approaching her. “Princess, I have some urgent news. Please listen closely to what I must say.”

********

Morning sunlight fills a town packed full of busy people, large official notices filling at least one wall of every building there, this paper holding news of a most important event that was taking place there, and event which explained why such a large amount of people had gathered to such a small town as this.

The Hunter’s Harvest

Organized by the renewed Lucid Alistair, The Hunter’s Harvest is event that takes place in our city of Tachi, attracting competitors from all over the Four Continents. The event challenges these men and woman to slay and bring back the body of what they think is the largest creature in the woods. The winner will be rewarded 500 in gold, as well as the title of champion. Those unable to take part in the hunting are still welcome to take part within the events gambling and earn their share of winning by betting on the names of the individuals whom they think will win. To help in betting choices competitors are giving skill levels and rankings based on their chances of winning. Beginner, Basic, Experienced, Professional and Master. Please note that even though Master has the highest chance of winning, they will not always win, and that voting on an underdog that manages to win will yield the most impressive results, so bet your money wisely.

 

A Little History: Due to the large and dangerous creatures that infest the forests around the town, problems were continuing to rise for the people traveling to and from the town of Tachi, making delivery of food as well as other goods and services near impossible. The chance of the town’s expansion was also in jeopardy. Alistair, the renowned organizer for “The Coliseum” as well as many other events similar to this one, saw both a way to fix Tachi’s problem and turn it into something profitable to not only him, but others as well. So now once a year, when winter ends and the breeding months of the forest creatures begin, the town thins out the beastly population by holding this contest. It has been a success since its first year and has continued to grow every year after.

In the center of town a busy cluster of people gathered in the now thriving market. Things of all kinds being bartered auctioned and sold. The competition attracting not only worriers of all ranks, but farmers and merchants as well. Each one looking to make a significant amount of money off of the gathering of people the town had collected.

Within the loud collection of people a small gang of twelve men lounge on one of the many merchant’s crates. The merchant of course did not saying a single word of complaint, as these men were one of the lowest forms of society the East continent had to offer. The filthy, rebellious bandits that live without rules were sought after by those of law and dreaded by all others.

These twelve casually joked amongst themselves in the crowd. People around them, besides the merchant whose belonging they occupied, did not seem to realize the status the group held in life, as they showed no malice towards the people around them.

There was one man in the group of twelve who stood high above the others, and this was their leader. He was a loud young man that acted playful and maybe a little too immature for what he was and not him nor any of the other eleven members of his party seemed the least bit worried over any trouble they would cause if their background was to be exposed.

This man looked younger than his actual age, more like a late teen then someone in his mid twenties. Even his attitude portrayed him as a young energetic individual with enthusiasm and excitement that seemed endless. His black hair was cut just long enough to hang to the end of his face and he wore a leather jacket fashioned with many belts and buckles as well as a scarf that gave him sort of a youthful boorish look. The most distinctive thing about the man was a scar from a blade that had cut his skin some time ago, running down the right side of cheek.

He eyes the crowds of people with an amused and playful look on his face, as if he was inspecting each of the participants over, yet not taking a single one as a serious threat. “Look at all these people here to take part in this event. It’s like they’re hoping to win or something.”

One of the bandits began to laugh as he playfully pat his leader on the back. “We all know how impossible that is! What with Hitsumi here.”

An un-kept, short member of the group nodded agreeing. “First place champion for three years running! There’s no competition.”

Another member walks out of the small group and toward their leader, the young man’s appearance looking to be close to the age of the young leader. He was clearly though, much more well kept then their leader, he in fact the cleanest and most well kept out of the group. His long untangled hair tied back in a low ponytail to keep it from easily becoming messy, his clothing free of the stains or sweat his companions clothing had. Another difference in their attire being that his outfit was rather plan compared to the others, so that his appearance, unlike his companions, would not stand out from the ‘normal’ crowd, because of his clean and proper atmosphere though, so he did stand out from the bandits. He looking almost completely out of place in the group, and it was clear sometimes that he was, not only in appearance but in knowledge as well.

The well kept member looks the group over, staring at them for a moment before shaking his head at their words. The last thing he needed was for their leader to get big headed on him. “Be careful Hitsumi, you don’t want to lose by getting over confident.”

Hitsumi laughs turning back to his close friend, scratching the bandana on his forehead. “Don’t worry Ashton, I’ll be just fine.” As if it would help prove his point, Hitsumi quickly grabs a book from Ashton’s bag, ignoring his friend’s obvious disapproval. “I checked your stupid question answer book thingy, and it said “Something good will happen today“”

He opens the book shoving it in Ashton’s face to prove his point. “See? The book speaks.” Just as Hitsumi had said, the book reads ‘Something Good will happen’

Ashton quickly grabs the book from Hitsumi’s hands, holding it close to him like a fragile object of great value. “Do not play with my magic book! It’s full of wisdom that far surpasses your own!”

Hitsumi rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “Ashton… that book is a crappy novelty item that you can buy at any souvenir shop.”

Horrified shock fills his friend’s face. He clutches his book even tighter, refusing to believe what he had just heard. “What!? I did not just hear that… tell me I did not just hear that!” He turns away, making it look as if he had never heard or even known Hitsumi in the first place. Not even giving him a chance to apologize.

Hitsumi nervously laughs at his friend’s reaction. “Lighten up…”

While in the midst of the chaos the two had caught themselves in, a prospecting young pickpocket spots them. Seeing the two greatly distracting from anything besides the book, he saw it as a perfect opportunity to make a quick buck. He makes his move, quickly executing his ploy, taking the wallet from Hitsumi’s pocket unnoticed by everyone but the person he had took it from.

Hitsumi quickly changes his targets from the book to the boy, jumping and tackling him to the ground before he could escape. Everyone outside the small group of bandits was startled by the sudden scene. The bandits were by now, quite used to Hitsumi’s unexplained and spontaneous conduct, and none looked surprised in the least at this example of it.

The bandit leader chuckles at the younger pickpocket’s antics. He found it amusing that he had again been the ‘helpless’ and ‘unsuspecting’ target of a pickpocket. Was it really that hard for people to believe that he himself might be a thief? “That’s got to have been your worst move today kid, stealing from a thief.”

The pickpocket struggles to get free, but Hitsumi isn’t about to let him go so easily. Panicked over the fact that he had been caught, the pickpocket quickly tries to find a way out of the situation. He spots a small sword strapped to Hitsumi’s waist, hidden under his jacket, He quickly pulls it from its sheath, slashing at Hitsumi causing him to quickly jump back to avoid getting sliced by the blade.

Running from Hitsumi leaves the young man’s mind now, he had managed to seize the noisy bandit’s sword which was now held in front of him menacingly. Hitsumi was surprised that the pickpocket had managed to get his hands on it. He looked back down at his empty sheath, then back at his opponent. “Attacking me with my own weapon!?”

The pickpocket slices at Hitsumi but the bandit dodges it with ease. The young man does not look like he will leave without first inflicting pain on the one who had caught him. Hitsumi quickly looks around him for a weapon to replace his own, anything would do, just as long as it could help him beat the boy and get his things back.

He spots a young short haired boy lying down on a bench. His eyes were closed and he was picking his teeth with a knife, completely oblivious to the situation that had caught so much attention. Always the opportunist, Hitsumi quickly grabs the knife from the unsuspecting young man and uses it to defend himself. The blonde jumps up in shock, looking frantically from side to side, trying to figure out what had just happened. His attention is soon caught onto the fight. He narrows his eyes at the man holding his knife. Not at all pleased with him.
 
The pickpocket lunges with the small sword at Hitsumi, who quickly catches the blade with the newly acquired knife and directs the attack to the ground, the blade hitting the concrete instead of him. Hitsumi holds the weapon and in turn it’s wieldier in place. Quickly Hitsumi kicks his legs out tripping him and sending him crashing to the ground. While the thief is down Hitsumi quickly takes his weapon back, returning it to its sheath, he pins the boy down with his foot and takes the liberty of retrieving his money that was stolen from him.

Hitsumi smiles, standing straight and proud with the pickpocket underneath him he is one of the last concerns on his mind as he casually starts throwing the knife in the air and catching it repetitively. “Too easy, beating you was even more simple then stealing candy from a baby.” His mood changes as he thinks over what he had said. “Cause… you know… after you steal the candy from the baby it starts crying, and then you feel all sorry and bad about what you did. But unlike the baby, I don’t feel sorry for beating you up at all!!” He laughs to himself, happy that he has won this battle.

In the middle of feeling confident about his victory he is tapped on the shoulder by someone. He turns around to find the young boy he had taken the knife from standing behind him. Without waiting for anything to be said between them, the boy pulls back his arm and punches Hitsumi in the face knocking him to the ground.

The blonde silently walks over to Hitsumi’s fallen figure taking his knife back, the annoyed look never leaving his face. “Don’t touch my things without asking.” With that, he turns, walking away from the scene.

Hitsumi sits up, glaring at the boy. He didn’t look to be in any higher social standing then him. A simple penniless traveler who’s only belongings looked to be the archery set strapped to his back, which most likely supplied him with food and income. His clothes were plain enough to signify he was no one important, yet equip and tough enough to handle the hardships of travel. This was something he obviously did a lot of considering his clothes were worn and caked with dust from travels. His hair was a light blond, cut longer in the front then back, it was only a little longer then Hitsumi’s. He was a definite pretty boy that girls would without a doubt swoon over.

Hitsumi quickly pushed himself to his feet, dusting his clothing off. “Who does that guy think he is!?” He was obviously bitter over the whole experience that had just taken part.

Ashton frowned not surprised in the least. “Well you did take his knife without asking.”

Hitsumi looked back at Ashton, his eyes shocked and jaw dropped a little surprised that his best friend would be on the side of the person that had struck him, a complete stranger that had just come out of nowhere and hit him for no good reason! “What was I supposed to do!? I was in the middle of a fight!!”

“Were you even planning on give it back to him?” Ashton quietly asked, as if already knowing the devious answer.

A long pause follows Ashton’s question. Hitsumi coughs clearing his throat looking to the side. “It was a nice knife…”

Ashton opens his book, the answer clearing Ashton’s suspicions by landing on a page that read. ‘Finders Keepers’

Hitsumi again lunges for the book, bringing the two back to the fight they were once in. “Tattletaleing piece of junk!!”

The two are interrupted when one of the bandits in Hitsumi’s group speaks up. “His name’s Li.”

Hitsumi is a little confused with the sudden information that didn’t seem to have a reason for being brought up.

“…hu?”

“The blonde that hit you, his name is Li. He’s the youngest one competing at the master level this year. Only nineteen.”

Although nineteen didn’t seem all that young, it was for someone in the master level. A level filled with only highly skilled professionals of many years. A grade even Hitsumi wasn’t qualified for even with having won three previous championships. Hitsumi happened to be in the rank just below master ‘professional level’

Hitsumi frowns at the information he had just received. How was a pretty boy like that able to rank higher than him!? He had only known that person for only a few seconds but he had already pulled enough of Hitsumi’s strings to make him think fatal thought upon him. “Well then… Li is it?” He growls at the name, the sound of himself saying it making him even bitterer. “I don’t think I like Li…”

While all this was happening a young cloaked woman is searching through the crowds of people, she the young princess that the old wizard had contacted shortly after the castles attack. She seems frantic as she searches the people around her, looking for someone that could help her out. Unfortunately she can only find older, stinky, big, broad faced men, who to the princess where frightening to the princess. “This is terrible!! Everyone is so rough looking… I don’t want to travel with such rough and frightening people… if they’re unshaven they can’t be trusted… if they don’t have nice looking faces… they might kill me…”

Although her logic would seem off to most people, it made perfect sense to her. And she continued to search through the crowds surrounding her.
A loud voice rises above the crowds as a woman on a stage speaks through a megaphone to the people. “Attention everyone, the hunting grounds are about to open, please listen carefully as I explain the rules once again.”
The princess begins to worry over hearing the announcement. If she wasn’t quick to find someone willing to help her before the competition started, she would be forced to continue without a companion at all. She starts to panic, frantically looking for a face that she might trust. “What will I do!?!? They’re all going to leave soon! Then I’ll have to travel alone!!”

It is at that moment her eyes catch onto the small gang of bandits lead by the highly vocal leader. Seeing that his face was much more handsome then the others, well aside from that awful scar across his right cheek. He seemed to be the most likely candidate in the crowd of ruffians that the town had gathered.

She smiles to herself as she beings approaching him. “He’s not scary like the others! He’ll work just fine!” She stops near him waving to get his attention. “Excuse me Sir! Excuse me!!”

Hitsumi looks over at the voice that was calling out to someone in the crowd, spotting the young woman calling for the attention of someone within his group. The young beautiful long haired woman with raven black hair, wearing a dress simple yet at the same time fit enough for someone of importance. Her alluring brown eyes making her small round already beautiful face even more attractive. The bandit smiles an impressed grin, the girl was definitely cute.

He is about to turn away when he realized that she was looking right at him. He nervously looked from either side of him, seeing if maybe she was trying to get the attention of someone next to him, but only found members of his own bandit gang. He then gingerly pointing to his face and questioning the young woman. “Me?”

The princess nods her head as she grins running up to him to now speak with him, glad she had caught his attention.

Finding that she was indeed staring at him, Hitsumi quickly dusts the dirt off his clothing from his recent scuffle, wondering at the same time what a girl as well off as her could possibly want with him. Careful not to let his voice sound too nervous, he timidly asks her the question running through his head. What could she possibly want with someone like him? “What is it?” He asked her, his voice well disguises to make him seem unfazed by her approach.

The princess smiles as she dusts the dirt Hitsumi had missed off of his jacket, and then starts to size him making sure his clothes didn’t have many tears or frays. She needed to be sure that he would indeed fit her standards. “You seem like a decent, clean shaven, trustworthy, un-ugly, none rapist kind of guy.” Although he was far from financially fit, he still seemed acceptable enough to be seen alongside her, at least more than anyone else in the town.

Hitsumi is more than a little confused by the awkward introduction. Normal woman didn’t run up to strangers and start dusting and looking one’s clothes over. He steps back, not quite sure what to make of her. “… okay…”

The young woman clasps her two hands together, looking as if she were going to begin begging him for something. “May I ask you for a really small favour?”

Hitsumi scratches the back of his head, it was rude for one not to at least listen to the requests of a girl, no matter how strange they acted. “I guess s-”

“Good!!” She quickly interrupts, not letting the bandit finish his sentence. “My name is Angel, I’m looking for someone capable of escorting me to Bronze Riverton, and I think you look like the type that should be able to help me out! So if you could just forfeit the contest and-”

“Forfeit!” Hitsumi interrupts her from saying anything else. Forfeiting the contest was definitely the last thing on his mind at the moment. “Are you out of your mind? No way I can’t d-”

The bell chimes signalling the start of the competition, everyone that had come to participate starting to leave the city.

Ashton nudges his friend, reminding him that they should get going as well. “Come on Hitsumi let’s get going, the Hunter’s Harvest is already starting”

Hitsumi looks back to him, not wanting to just leave this girl so suddenly. “Just a second I-”

Another member of the group quickly speaks up. “Li’s already ahead of us.”

All thoughts of Angel are completely lost, the incident in which Hitsumi has been humiliated in front of everyone around him and the one who had cause it now all that was on his mind. “WHAT!? That little!! I’ll show that no good pretty boy!!”

A growl escapes Hitsumi’s throat as he spots Li, who disappears from his view a split second later. As long as that blond still had the upper hand he had something more important to deal with than just the hunter’s harvest. He looks back to Ashton speaking in a bitter tone. “We’ll deal with the hunters harvest after I get that bastard back for what he did to me!”

He quickly runs after the crowd of contestants, determined to get back at Li. His small gang of followers shrug their shoulders yet still followed their leader.

Ashton stares at Hitsumi in shock for a moment before quickly coming to his senses and running after him. “Wait what!? Hitsumi no! If we don’t give this event our full attention we’re going to lose!”

Angel panics as she watches the one person that might have been able to help her, about to leave the town and probably never be seen by her again. “Wait!! What about me!?!? I really need you to take me to- WAIT UP!!!” She runs after them as fast as she can, praying that she would not lose sight of him.

The continents spread out into the fields and forests surrounding the city.

Several hours pass, the persistent princess continuing to follow Hitsumi as he and his group continue on their way through the forests. She still trying to ask him for help. “Can you please escort me to Bronze Riverton? It’s really important that I get there as soon as possible!” She pouts having still followed him and his friends even though she never gotten any kind of an answer or any hint of a response from him. Perhaps the man didn’t hear her and she would just have to speak louder, it’s not as if he were ignoring someone such as her was it?

Ashton speaks up trying to get his leader to turn back and get back to what it was they had all come to this town in the first place for. “Hitsumi… we’ve gone way out of the boundaries of the competition grounds! There’s only a few hours left, if we don’t find something fast we’ll never make it back in time!”

Hitsumi stops to look over the ledge of a high gorge, the rocky ledge overlooking a long rapidly flowing river below it. After surveying the area he turns back to his group. “It’s not my fault that bum decided to trek this far out!”

Ashton is confused. “Why are you following him in the first place!? What about the competition!? I told you the contest will be over soon, are you sure you’ll be able to make it?”

Hitsumi seems aggravated with Ashton’s glum attitude. “Who cares about that!? That guy made a fool out of me in front of hundreds of people! I’m not going to let him get away with it!!”

Angel smiles as she casually interrupts the two of them in another attempt to get Hitsumi to grant the request she had for him. “There’s only a few hours left in the competition! Why not just call it a day and take me to Bronze Riverton! I’m sure you can try again next year.”

Hitsumi stares at the princess blankly for a while he having completely forgotten about her and not realized that she was still tailing him everywhere he went. “You’re still here!? You’ve been following me around all day!”

Angel grabs onto the front of Hitsumi’s jacket as she begins to plead with him, traveling to that town something she could not do on her own. “This is really important! You don’t understand I have to leave as soon as possible!”

Hitsumi suddenly turns away from the princess, spotting who it was he was looking for further down the side of the gorge they are on. “There he is!!” He points to the figure so that the others would spot him as well.

Ashton lets out a tired sigh. “Hitsumi…”

Hitsumi laughs as he looks back to the group, it now time to put the plan into motion. “Alright guys, we’re attacking him when it’s dark.”

The princess looks a little confused with this announcement of his. “Dark? Why do we have to wait until dark? Won’t it be difficult to see?”

Hitsumi nodes his head as he smiles almost wickedly, the plan was genius and was bound to work. “Yes! We wait for nightfall. The darkness is my playground! Everyone knows that bandits rule the night!” He frowns for a moment, thinking over what he had just said. “And rural roads…dark forests… bridges…” He slowly adds more in thinking of anything else bandits were considered to rule. “…waterways… alleys…”

Angel looks a little nervous with what Hitsumi had just told her. “Bandits?” She takes a step back from him realizing that perhaps she had made the wrong choice after all. She looks the group over, none of them really causing her any real fear or cause for concern despite the terrible situation them being bandits meant to her. Even with the information she had just learned she still felt herself trusting the leader of this small group, he didn’t seem like a bandit he was much too friendly… well in the end perhaps it really didn’t matter, as long as they did not know she was the princess them being bandits shouldn’t become problematic and everything should still be fine.

Ashton shakes his head the contest they were competing in still on his mind. “You are aware that by the time its dark it’ll be over.”

Hitsumi turns to Ashton with a smirk on his face. “Of course I know that!! I’m ending this feud!”

Ashton groans Hitsumi’s mind obviously completely off the competition. ”I’m not talking about your stupid single enemy war… I’m talking about the contest.” Hitsumi doesn’t look to hear him as he began to think of a plan to catch Li off guard and make him pay for his actions.

Hitsumi motions towards the others as he starts making his way forward. “Come on!! We don’t want to lose him!”

Ashton throws his arms in the air giving up. Obviously Hitsumi was throwing his four year title away because of an annoying traveler but what could he do about it? Once Hitsumi had his mind distracted by something it was hard to get it back onto what it was he was originally supposed to be doing.

*******

Several guards stand by the entrance of the forest from the chatting with one another in a casual manner. They job they were doing a simple one they being placed there to keep people from wandering into the forest while the contest was taking place, to keep the people that were not contestants safe from both the monsters and the hunters who might mistaken people wandering in as something they were trying to hunt.

The guards chatter is interrupted when a figure tries to walk past them into the forest area, one of the guards quickly grabbing onto the figure’s shoulder stopping him from walking any farther. “Hey! The contest is still taking place you can’t go in there.”

The man that had tried to enter turns back to the guard as he grabs onto the guard’s hand and lifts it off of his shoulder. “Why not?”

The guard winces as he pulls his hand back from the man’s grasp, the stranger had managed to get one hell of a grip on him and it was a strength the guard had never really experienced before through such a gesture. “No one may enter unless they are participants of the hunter’s harvest, simple as that.” He points in the direction opposite the entrance. “The contest will be over in a few hours once it’s done you can enter as much as you please, until then you can go find something else to occupy your time with.”

The man looks from the guards and back in the direction he was trying to go in, the man unable to wait when it came to his situation. “A few hours will be too late. I need to go now.”

“What’s business would you possibly have within the forest?”

The man smiles at the comment as he laughs quietly to himself. “Business? Just give me a moment to think of an answer.” He looks up humming to himself as he thought of an answer to the question he had been asked while the guards look to one another curiously. The man stops his thinking and simply shrugs his shoulders as he turns his attention back to them. “I guess there’s really no reason to lie to you now is there.” His eyes narrow and the amused expression leaves his face, the business he had within the forest very important to him. “A woman.” He turns back to the forest determined to get inside. “A woman I am trying to find went in there. If I waste my time here waiting for the contest to end she’ll escape again.” He looks back to the guards explaining to them how difficult a person this woman was to reach. “She’s not an easy person to find. Searching for her over again once she disappears from this town will be a pain.”

The guard shakes his head still unable to allow entrance to him. “Look if the person you’re looking for is in the forest right now then she’s a participant of the contest. She’ll come back to town when the contest is over.”

The man sighs as he slowly shakes his head, the guards not understanding the situation. “Not if she’s not following the rules. I guarantee you she won’t be returning to this village, she never takes any steps back… running blindly forward is all she knows.”

The other guard that had remained silent through the entire conversation draws his sword and holds it to the man’s face, forcefully showing him that they would not be making any acceptations. “You can’t enter and that is final. We have enough problems to deal with as it is and we don’t need trouble from a punk like you.”

The man crosses his arms a confused look on his face, the man more concerned by the words he had just told him then the weapon that was being held directly at his face. “Punk? I’m a punk?” He looks himself over trying to see if there was anything on him that would possibly give him that title. His upper body was filled with belt and ties all strapping various weapons to his back, but that should be normal considering the amount of worriers that had come to the village. “What are you talking about?”

Realization fills his face as he reaches up and grabs hold of several strands of his hair holding it forward. “This is what you’re talking about!?” His hair was clearly not a normal shade of colour but instead a light green. He sighs letting go of his hair and shaking his head that probably being it. “Really… that’s its natural colour… I get mistaken as a human too often…” He walks past the sword and the guards towards the forest. “I don’t have time for this, you’re both holding me up and as I mentioned before I’m in a hurry.”

The other guard draws his weapon as he calls out to him demanding him not to go any further. “Stop! Take another step and I’ll have you arrested!”

The man reaches back grabbing the handle of one of the many weapons he had strapped to his back as he turned back to the guards to face them, the man swinging forward a large and heavy axe, the powerful blade hitting the weapons that were being held at him and shattering them.

He holds the heavy axe up with one hand at the level of his face as if the weapon were as light and easy to handle as a small dagger. “Do not keep me from this kill any longer then you already have.” He growls in an animal like way it was clear this man was not what he had first looked to be. “As I said, there is very little time left, if I do not act immediately she will slip through my fingers once again!”

*******

The sun begins to set as the land is filled with a dark orange hue that illuminating the world before it would become pitch black, this light a signal to both man and beast that it was now time for most to prepared to sleep for the night, while at the same time signalling to others that their time for hunting had come.

Li is sitting on the ground and resting against a tree near the edge of a deep rocky gorge, he looking very ready to call it a day and go to sleep. He watches the sun set slightly exhausted from the day’s activities.

A strange sound fills the night, all the noise of the forest abruptly stopping. Li too falling silent and paying attention to his surroundings, he gets up moving to leave but stops when he notices that he is surrounded by a group of shadows.

Li pulls out his dagger as he prepared to deal with the threat, the challengers to close to for him to use his arrows on. Li looks the shadows over getting a better idea of the situation that he was in, this group was small and wouldn’t be too much of problem for him, after all he had dealt with larger groups of these types of people many times before. He eases his stance when he sees one of the figures and recognizes him as the persistent bandit that he had continuously been having run-ins with all that day. He lowers the dagger he is holding slightly to his side as he shakes his head and relaxing his stance there being no real threat from this group of people. “You…? What are you doing here?”

Hitsumi smiles as he casually walks up to Li, circling him as he talks confident tone content with having managed to successfully trap his prey. “Outnumbered, surrounded, and in the dark. Not a very good situation.” He comes to a stop as he pauses to think of what other tricks this boy might have up his sleeve to again throw him off track. Hitsumi quickly speaks out the first thing to come to his mind. “Unless… you can see in the dark?”

Li stares at him for a while trying to figure out if it was a serious question or not, finally speaking up and answering the bandits question when he realized that Hitsumi is actually expecting him to respond to a question like that. “No… I can’t see in the dark.”

Hitsumi seems relived after hearing this, now he was sure that nothing could foil his brilliantly thought up plan. “Okay good! That means I definitely have the upper hand then.”

Li pushes past him not in the mood for this, now was obviously not the time to deal with the moron leaving the forest as quickly as he possible could all that was on his mind, not playing games with such childish beings as this troublesome bandit. “I don’t have time for this.”

Before Li is able to walk past Hitsumi Ashton grabs onto him from behind and pins his arms behind his back and holds him in place, before Li can find anything to say Hitsumi and the other bandits he is hoisted up quickly tying to the tree he had before been resting against, Li’s feet hanging almost a foot from the ground giving him even less openings for escape.

Li struggles to free himself unfortunately unable to do something such a thing. He looks back at the bandits having not for a moment guessed that they were capable of catching him so quickly like this, what was worse than that was now they were forcing him to stay in the forest that he was right now trying to leave.

The traveler raises his voice as he begins yelling at the bandits more than just a little aggravated with the entire situation. “Who do you think you are!?”

Hitsumi places his hand on his chest as he answered Li’s question with a strong tone of confidence in his voice. “Leader of the…” He stops talking, everyone staring at him in silence as they waited for Hitsumi to finish. Hitsumi looks from either side actually not able to finish what he had begun saying, not once in his entire occupation of being a bandit had he called his group by any kind of name. He nervously looks the side not able to look Li in the face as he quietly mumbles his answer to him. “… the bandits.”

Li pauses for a second not sure of how she was supposed to react to this. It seemed this bandit would always be capable of proving just how much more of an idiot he was at every corner that presented itself to him. “Your gang doesn’t have a name?”

Hitsumi points accusingly at Li his cocky attitude rather damaged by the awkward situation Li had managed to place him in. “It didn’t need one before I met you!! People usually don’t ask for the name of my group!”

Li sighs as he stares at Hitsumi. “If they’re not asking for your name then it’s obviously because you aren’t any good.” Hitsumi glares at Li completely insulted by the comment while Li taps his foot against the tree closing his eyes and leaning his head back impatient with the entire situation. The sooner he left this place and the loud bandits behind him the better. “I don’t have time to deal with crappy bandits. So I’ll make you a deal alright, untie me and I’ll leave and never bother you again.”

Hitsumi laughs at the offer as he points to his captive sticking his finger in Li’s face. “So I strike fear into your heart!”

“No!” Li quickly confirms not wanting the bandit to get the wrong idea from the offer he had made. “I just want to get out of this forest as soon as possible! And I can’t leave when I’m like this now can I?”

Hitsumi glares back at him. “Don’t talk to me in such a belittling manner you bum!!”

Angel watches them a little hopefully, the princess sanding within the other bandits that surrounded Li as she continued to follow Hitsumi. Maybe with Hitsumi having managed to put Li into the situation he was in right now it was all finally over with. “Okay, you tied him to the tree, now can you help me out!?”

The bandit holds his hand out to her stopping the princess from saying anything farther. “Just a second!” Hitsumi turns back to Li this not over. “I’m not done with him yet!” The princess gets an exasperated look on her face while Hitsumi spots a pack tied to Li’s waist, the pack most likely carrying the money Li used to pay for the things he would need while on his travels. He smiles as he reaches down taking it from Li’s side and looking it over. “Not to be off topic or anything but how much you have on you anyways?”

Li looks down at his stolen pack, a cross look on his face at the realization that he was now being robbed by this annoying person. “I thought you were getting even with me…”

Hitsumi nods his head. “I might as well mug you while I’m at it, just because you annoy me so much.” He throws the pack to Ashton for him to deal with and gets back onto the topic of revenge.

Hitsumi waves his hand before him like an artist would when presenting his most recent masterpiece. “Listen carefully while I describe your fate. First I tie you to a tree near the edge of the ravine. Notice as I have every so brilliantly done that. Now I will cut this tree down and throw it…” Hitsumi stops when it comes to his attention that it would be impossible for him to pick up and throw such a large tree. “No… push it, push it very slowly into the gorge below us.”

“You’re planning to kill me for punching you?”

Hitsumi stares back at him. “What are you stupid!? How is that supposed to kill you!?”

Li stares back at him. “How is that not supposed to kill me!?”

Hitsumi places his hands on his head. “Come on think!!! It’s obvious!!”

Li stares at him, clearly he did not think in the same insane manner as this person and could not see what it was he did. Okay fine, whatever, but can I ask you one favour before you throw me to my death?”

While Hitsumi is talking to Li Ashton is digging through Li’s pouch looking for anything valuable or interesting, having only been able to find a small and hardly satisfying amount of money on him. His eyes catch onto something within the pack that he held Ashton jumping to his feet and dropping the pouch in shock.

Li continues with his last request. “Can you cut down the tree quickly? Because I really want to get out of this place as soon as possible.”

Before Hitsumi can respond to Li’s request Ashton runs in between the two of them holding his arms out to stop them as he faced Hitsumi and spoke to him, the tone in his voice frantic. “Hitsumi stop!! Untie Li right now!” Both Li and Hitsumi look surprised by his sudden change in attitude.

Hitsumi looks his friend over in an attempt to see if anything was noticeably wrong with him. “Ashton…?”

Ashton turns away from Hitsumi and back to Li bowing and apologizing repetitively for the situation. “I’m so sorry about this! We’ll have you untied and on your way in no time.”

Hitsumi pushes his friend out of the way refusing to do something like that. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?”

Ashton quickly jumps back in between the two of them not wanting Hitsumi to do anything else to his captive, Ashton talking to him between clenched teeth so that the other bandits besides Hitsumi would not be able to easily catch what he was saying. “If you will just listen for a second I can explain!”

Ashton and Hitsumi begin to argue with one another about what to do with Li. Angel who felt a little forgotten watches them patiently as they bickered knowing that Hitsumi had said that he would help her after this. Hopefully soon this would all be over, that is if those two made up their minds quickly on what it was they wanted to do. She turns back to Li and notices that he looks nervous and impatient, Angel remembering that he had said something about wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible, even if it meant going through with Hitsumi’s plan.

Angel nervously takes several steps towards the bandit’s captive addressing the blonde that had been tied up. “Excuse me, uh… person tied to the tree. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

Li looks back to Angel, responding to her question. “The silence in this forest, don’t any of you find it the least bit strange!?”

Angel thinks the fact that had been presented to her over. “Silence…” She nods her head, now that it was mentioned she realized how abnormal it was now. “You’re right… usually you can hear calls of animals and insects at this hour…”

Li continues, obviously like the princess he knew something more than Hitsumi about them. “They’re all hiding from something that is frightening them, something that isn’t normally found in this forest, something more dangerous than the hunters that came here today and any of the beasts that live in this forest!”

Angel clutches her hands in front of her, her body slightly trembling in fear. The only creature that would go out of its way to hunt in this area with the large and dangerous creatures that were already in it and be of a possible concern to the fairies was without a doubt in her mind the same type of creatures she was running from. “Demons.”

Hitsumi looks over to Angel slightly puzzled by the answer she had given them. “Demons? There are no demons native to this area.”

Li sighs as she looks back to Hitsumi. “I said it was something that normally isn’t found in this forest!”

Angel quickly runs up to Hitsumi grabbing onto his arm and tugging on his sleeve to get him to start moving, she knowing the exact reason as to why a demon would be anywhere near this area. “We have to get out of here now!”

There is a loud roar as several trees near them are thrown over by a huge sweeping paw. Hitsumi’s group begins to panic they moved to avoid being hit but the large crashing trees, a large black demon resembling a bear roaring as it approaches them through the opening it had made through the trees, looking down and glaring down at the people it had found.

The bandits begin back away from the beast distancing themselves from it, Hitsumi and Ashton quickly pulling out their swords to defend themselves from the demon that had decided to approach them. Angel just stares at the creature wide eyed having never seen a demon before in her life, she having been well shielded from them for a reason.

The black demon growling as it stares at the princess with its small deep purple eyes. A grumble escaping its throat as it begins to speak to her. “It did not take long to track you down princess.”

Hitsumi frowns slightly lowering his weapon and studying the demon. “Princess?” He glances from side to side while still keeping an eye on the demon. “What princess?”

The demon takes several steps forward the bandits backing away while the princess keeps her ground. “Come with me princess and your companions will be spared.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Writing, Princess of Silver Sands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.