Relentless flames devour everything in sight causing the Land of Nature to burn to the ground. Thick, dark smoke fills the air and the lungs of civilians and solider alike as fields of greeneries perish from the flames. Homes and shops are vandalized, and knights show no mercy as they spill the blood of the innocent. Screams rip through the throats of the civilians as they desperately run as fast as they possibly could for their lives. Some are lucky as they find shelter from the knights that ruthlessly pursues them, while some are not as they effortlessly slice or stab their swords through them with no forms hesitation.
Dark onyx eyes watch from the top of the castle at the sight below him. Turning his back to the window, his eyes fall onto the Queen of the Land of Nature, Mebuki. Her green dress is decorated with embroidery of small pink flowers that hugs her perfectly, flaring out at her is on her knees, her left arm painted red from the blood that leaks from the wound she received from his sword. The crown that she has worn proudly on her head since she was married had been torn from her head causing her dirty blonde hair to lay messily around her face.
Her dark green eyes watches in horror as the man holds her beloved six month old daughter in his left infant does not wake from the bloodcurdling screams that fills the night air as she sleeps peacefully in his arms. He raises his right hand to her face, brushing her pastel pink locks away from her face and caresses her soft cheek.
"I never thought I would see the day that the Land of Nature would crumble, oh wait,burn to the ground. Did you, your Majesty?"
He diverts his glance off of the sleeping infant and onto the Queen as she sits silently on the ground, her eyes not on him, but on her precious daughter. Her only daughter in the arms of the man that enlisted the aid from her Land's worst enemy, the Land of Flames.
"Why?" She breathlessly whispers. Her eyes slowly shift off her little bundle of joy and to her husband, the King, on his knees beside him. Her heart aches, but she tries with all her might to stay calm and brave for the sake of her daughter and her husband.
Kizashi locks eyes with his wife and sees a tear trails lazily down her ivory face. Breaking eye contact with him, her gaze falls upon the man behind her husband. The man is their sworn enemy, the King of the Land of Flames.
The King holds his sword against the neck of Kizashi. He smirks tauntingly down at Kizashi, tasting sweet victory on his Lands had been enemies for centuries and now, as the King inches his sword closer to Kizashi's neck, there will be no more enemies for his Land for the Land of Nature will no longer exist from this day onwards.
Kizashi does not tremble with fear from the sword. His wife's glance gives him courage, but seeing as hers is fleeting he's trying desperately to stay strong for his family.
"Why are you doing this?" He sternly addresses the man who holds his daughter, "What is your gain from helping the Land of Flames?"
Onyx eyes fall upon Kizashi as he chuckles to himself. "Because I want this Kingdom to be wiped from existent," the man gleefully explains as he walks away from the window to stand by the door. With his back to the Kings and Queen, he turns his head towards them, a broad smile decorating his face. "Let's go," he calls out to the King of Flames who simply nods his head as he retracts his sword from the King's neck and places it in its sheathe.
He saunters towards the onyx eyed man, his red cape floating behind him as he makes his way across the room. He stops when he's a couple of feet away from Kizashi. The King of the Land of Flames withdraws his sword, and with a smile that reaches his eyes, stabs it right through Kizashi's chest.
All he hears is his wife's screams that fills him with more pain knowing that he's failed in protecting her and their daughter. Blue eyes widen by the sensation of the cool blade entering his chest and exiting through his back. Just as quickly as the blade entered his body, it exits causing him to tremble on his knees.
Blue eyes lock with the onyx eyes of the man who holds his daughter as they look down at him mockingly, a subtle gleam in his eyes at the sight of him.
The King doesn't say anything as he turns, re-sheathes his sword and walks away as the Kizashi topples to the cold, stone ground. Thoughts of his pink haired infant flashes in his mind as he'll never get to see her grow up into a beautiful young woman. He'll never get to see her walk, or talk. He'll never get to hear her call him Papa and his wife, Mama. He'll never get to hear the words of love fall from her mouth when she tells them, "I love you." He'll never get to see her fall in love, or walk down the aisle in a beautiful wedding dress. He'll never get to see or love his grandchildren and future son-in-law. And she'll never get to know how much he loved her.
The King leaves the room, but the man drops his cold glance onto the child. "Bring Queen Mebuki. She's going to enjoy what I've got in store for her," he calls out to the knight who is standing watch by the door. A smile brightens across the man's face as Kizashi's eyes widen, and his chest rumbles from a cough that sends blood spilling from his lips.
"No, don't-"
"Kill her? Don't worry, I'll make sure it's even more painful than yours."
Onyx eyes dart towards the Queen. Long dirty blonde hair curtains her face as tears freely flow from her eyes. Quickly bolting her head back up, she diverts her eyes toward her dying husband's glance as the knight forcefully grabs her arm, pulling her roughly to her feet. She wobbles on her feet, which causes the guard to pick her up, throwing her over his shoulder as if she was a sack of rice. She cries out with desperate pleads to let her down and to get help for her husband, but they were all ignored.
As the guard makes his way towards the door, Mebuki mouths, "I love you," to her husband. She's always been a positive woman, thinking that bad situations will have its way of becoming better, but she realizes now she was a fool to think that. No happiness can ever emerge from the situations her and her Land is facing.
"I love you, too," he mouths back, coughing up more blood in the process. His eyelids grow heavy with each passing second, and soon his vision starts to become blurry. His blue eyes become dime as his eyelids fall over his eyes, forever shutting out the light from them.
Mebuki cries as another screams rips its way through her throat, leaving a sharp burning sensation in its wake. "No, no, no," she yells, through tears. The knight makes his way out of the room as a final outburst slips past Mebuki's lips. "NO!"
"You shouldn't worry about your late husband so much, your Majesty," the man says as he follows behind them. "He's dead. There's nothing you can do to bring him back. But I do suggest that you worry about the life of your innocent daughter and yours as well."
"What are you going to do to us?" Her voice is low again as it escapes her lips. She trembles with fear from the threat he bestowed upon her and from the loss of her husband.
The man doesn't answer her question. His finger comes up and taps the infant's nose, causing the small child her to wrinkle her nose, but she does not wake from her looks up from the child and smirks at Mebuki, chuckling to himself.
"First," he says withdrawing his sword from its sheath which causes Mebuki's eyes to widen with fear, "I'll need to get rid of him." In a blink of an eye, he vanishes before her view.
She could have sworn she saw him in front of her, but his quick vanishing trick is quickly forgotten when she hears a moan escape a man's throat and quickly twists her body in the guard's hold. The King of the Land of Flames is on the ground, blood spilling from his chest.
He struggles to prop his body up against the wall and places a shaking hand over his wound. "We had a deal," he hisses through clenched teeth, "and you betrayed me!"
"I didn't betray you since I did not agree to fight alongside you." He slowly brings back his arm and swiftly brings it forward, slashing the neck of the King. He delightfully watches as his body goes limp, his arm falling to the ground as his head drops against his chest. "Second," he says gazing upon the baby in his arms, "I have a special place for her and for you in mind." He slowly lifts his eyes towards the horrified Queen."Oh, but at separate locations, and I can guarantee that she wouldn't survive or you."
Mebuki kicks the knight's chest and pounds on the knight's back which only causes him to tighten his grasp around her. "Release us," she sternly demands, mustering up all the courage she has remaining in her body.
The guard and the man ignores her as they calmly make their way out of the castle. At the front doors awaits their getaway transportation. A black carriage is attached to two black stallions who appears unfazed by all the smoke and screams that fills the night air. A knight on a grey horse is positioned in behind the carriage. Long, pale blue hair sticks out from under his helmet. Mebuki instantly recognizes the knight, but shows no signs on her face that she does.
The knights throws her roughly into the horse drawn carriage, where a man dressed in all black with silver hair,patiently sits with his legs and arms crossed. Mebuki rearranges herself, getting ready to bolt from the carriage, but the man enters and sits beside her.
The black door shuts behind him, and the carriages takes off down the trail that leads out of the Kingdom.
"Give me my daughter," Mebuki sternly demands, her eyes red rimmed as she holds out her arms to accept her child. The man surprisingly complies and hands her the bundled child. Mebuki holds her to her chest, as the tears start to flow again. She decorates the infant's forehead in kisses, leaving red prints from her lipstick.
"I've received word that the Land of Flame is no more," the silver haired man informs. His eyes open to reveal onyx orbs. "And we've captured what you were targeting."
"What? Why did you attack the Land of Flames if you're helping them," she exclaims, her voice stern and unwavering in her throat. "Why would you attack us both? It makes no sense!" Clutching her baby closer to her chest, she glares daggers at the dark haired man which does nothing to shake or stir fear in him.
"Of course it wouldn't make sense to you, because it is none of your concern, your Majesty," he says with a sly smile. "I did help them, but not for their gain, but for mine."
"What could you possible gain from taking away so many innocent lives?"
"That's for me to know and well, for you to never find out."
They make their way through the flaming city, the bloodcurdling screams have diminished and all that can be heard is the crackling of the flames and the hoofs of the horses that clack against the ground.
Mebuki stares out the window in horror with glassy dark green eyes. Her kingdom lights the night sky. Smoke blankets the land as blazing flames of red and orange can be seen consuming all that stands before it. The corpse of her people lay scattered on the ground. She was living in a nightmare.
"The knights," she breathless murmurs, "they were never under the command of the King from the Land of Flames, were they?"
"You catch on fast when you lose the things you hold dearest, don't you," he says mockingly.
Closing her dark green eyes, she looks away when she feels a light pat on her tear stained eyes meet with her daughter's innocent emerald eyes full of wonder. A smile spreads across her thin lips when her mother looks at her which causes a high pitched shriek of excitement to pass from them. Ahalf smile graces Mebuki's face. She giggles and presses her forehead to her daughter's as the tears continue to fall.
She cries for the civilians that died for no reason; she cries for her kingdom that will no longer exist. She cries for her dead husband whom she'll never feel his lips against hers or his touch ever again; and she cries for her daughter who will most likely have her life cut short.
"It's okay, baby. Mama's here. Mama will protect you and keep you safe," she murmurs, as her child pats her cheek again.
"Now, now, your majesty, should you really be promising your daughter something you can't keep?"
The view outside the window changes to the green of grass and trees that seen flying by the window, signalling that they have exited the Kingdom. The sight which would usually calm Mebuki down and bring her peace, fails to do that. She trembles with fear from the two mysteries men in the carriage with her, knowing that they're capable of almost anything, seeing as the man to her left single-handedly brought the downfall to two strong Lands.
"She is my life now, and I'll do everything to protect her." She straightens her back, holding her head high and keeps her child held closely against her neck. Small fingers tangle themselves in Mebuki's hair, tugging on it gently prompting another high pitched giggle to escape from her lips.
"Watch your life fly out the window."
"Wh-" Strong hands come down upon the small child, ripping her away from her mother's embrace as he tosses her out the window. A piercing scream rips through her throat as her arms are held out towards the window to grab back her daughter before he threw her out the window. Tears form their way back in her eyes as they fall at will. Standing abruptly in the carriage, she plans to jump out the window to get her daughter back, to make sure she was okay and no harm had been inflicted onto her, but the hands that ripped her infant from her hands push her down, back towards her seat.
"Look at that. Your motherly love didn't save that girl because she's going to be going to a better place than where you will land up." Onyx eyes look tauntingly into dark green eyes as a smile forms at his lips. "Heaven."
Violent sobs rip their way through her body causing her shoulders to shake as her head collapses into her hands. The two men locks eyes with one another when he sits back down and maniacal laughter fills the air.
Behind the carriage, the knight follows on horseback. Green eyes widened when he saw the princess was thrown out of the window and landed on the grass. He didn't hear cries from the infant, only from the Queen in the carriage with the men.
The knight pulls on the reigns causing his grey horse to come to a stop to which it stop. He quickly jumps off his horse and sprints the short distance towards the child. With each step he takes he dreads the worse as he cannot hear a single sound coming from the child.
Standing above the princess, he is met with two innocent emerald orbs staring up at him. She laughs when she sees him and claps her hands together. He is in awe as lifts his visor from his helmet, his dark eyes connecting with the princess as she reaches her arms out to him. Lifting her up into his arms, he is grateful that she landed into a flowerbed of wildflowers that cushioned her fall.
The child grabs hold of his long, pale, blue hair and tugs on it, laughing to herself. The guard smiles half-heartedly at the child, before turning his head towards the direction the Queen was taken in. The black carriage has been swallowed by the dark of the night. Looking back down at the child he vows to the Queen, the late King, and all the people of the Land of Nature that he will protect and raise this child on behalf of them.
Nineteen years later
"I'm off to the library, Aunty Tsunade," the young pink haired woman calls out from the door, swinging it open, waiting for a reply before heading out.
"Alright," the blonde haired woman answers. "Can you buy some things for me on your way home?"
"Of course," she gleefully says.
"Here's the list," Tsunade says as she makes her way towards her, holding out the paper.
"Thanks." She accepts the paper, placing it into her purse. She turns to leaves, but the sound of Tsunade's voice calling after her makes her stop.
"Sakura," Tsunade says, taking a step forward, "when you get back we'll go visit Dan, okay?" Tsunade's brown eyes fall to the ground between them.
Sakura approaches Tsunade, wrapping her arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Okay." She releases Tsunade and gives her a bright smile before turning around and making her way towards the door, shutting it behind her.
It's been nineteen years since Tsunade's husband, Dan, died. Neither Sakura or Tsunade aren't sure how he died, but Sakura recalls Tsunade telling her that Dan had been summoned to the Land of Waves to meet with the King, but he never returned. A week later a messenger shows up at her door informing her that he had been killed on his way back home. His body had been discovered on the side of the road and it appeared he was ambushed, killed, and robbed, but his body had not been sent home for a proper was only a baby so she's met Dan, but she could only imagine how great of a person he must have been since he saved many lives instead of taking them as he was a knight.
Strolling through the streets of her small town, she greets everyone who passes by her with a warm smile or she stops and chats with them for a bit before heading on her way.
The bell chimes above the door as Sakura enters the library.
"Good morning, Shizune."
"Ah, good morning, Sakura," greets Shizune with a smile on her face from behind the counter.
"Did anything new come in that I didn't read yet?"
"Not of any of the medical books that you like so much, but one new book did come in this morning." Shizune bends behind the counter and picks up a slim black book. She stands and walks towards Sakura holding it out to her. "Here you go. I found it on the ground by the door of the library so I haven't had a chance to go through it yet." Extending the book towards Sakura she says, "You can have the honour of reading its words' first."
Sakura gives her thanks before making her way into the library, locating a table by the window. She pulls out a chair and sinks into it. Taking off her purse, she sets it on the table and leans back into the chair as she opens the book.
The book doesn't hold any interesting information of medicine or even the human body that Sakura finds so fascinating. It was a book of curses. Sakura sighs with defeat as the idea of curses do not interest her as she believes that are do not exist and someone only came up with the idea in order to scare others.
Flipping through the pages of the book to look at the pictures, one curse in particular catches her attention. She pulls her chair closer to the table and sets the book flat on the table, placing her arms on it. Leaning closer to the book, she studies the picture with widen eyes filled with shock.
A black cherry blossom is shown on the left side of a woman's chest, directly over her heart. Sakura shakes as she studies the photo thinking it has to be a coincidence and that curses do not exist, but her brain tells her that curses are indeed real because she has the same black cherry blossom on the left side of her chest, directly over her heart.
"She's currently reading the book you asked us to plant at that library she visits weekly."
"Ah, is she now?"
"Yes, we have confirmation that she has. It also appears that she's found the page you were hoping she would find, as well."
A smirk forms across thin lips as his eyes onyx eyes reflect delight. "We will be expecting a visitor to my kingdom soon. Please clean out one, no two chambers for when she visits."
"Yes, your Majesty." The silver haired man bows before leaving the King at his throne.
"You've managed to escape death last time, sweet princess, but I can reassure you that the next time I have you in my grasp, it'd be the last."
a/n: for the time period, i had in mind the time period that "Tangled" was set in. sorry if it didn't appear to be that. I had difficulty finding the right years that i already envisioned in my mind of this au. this will be updated in a weekly basis (every friday)
who do you think the onyx eyed guy is :) I am not using OC characters for this story, since im not too fond of them and it'd take away from guessing who someone might be