Knight in Shining Armor
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Prompt: Fairy Tales/ Folk Tales
Knight in Shining Armor
Hinata looked up at the imposing tower before her then dismounted her horse and tied it and another horse to a nearby tree. She pulled her sword from its sheath and readied her shield then headed to the drawbridge that let into the castle. The castle had been abandoned for many years, except for its lone occupant in the western tower. She headed into the castle as quietly as possible. She was prepared for a battle, even though she had never rescued anyone before. She looked around every corner before entering the next hallway. She headed up a few staircases, each time cursing how her armor clinked against the stone floors and echoed throughout the castle.
Once Hinata got to the top floor, she glanced out a window to look for the sun to determine what direction she needed to head to get to the tower she was headed for. Eventually she found a spiral staircase and started heading up it, carefully taking each step and readjusting her hold on her sword and shield to be prepared should anything happen. As she came to a halt in front of an imposing wooden door, she was extremely tired, but she refused to let any amount of fatigue get to her and confidently pushed the wooden door open, causing it's hinges to creek from being coated in rust.
As Hinata opened the door, she saw who she had come to the castle for. His ebony tresses and fancy, although torn and dirty, clothes confirming his identity. Hinata smiled underneath her helm for a moment before she saw something moving quickly in the dark room. She caught a glimpse of green eyes that seemed to glow and was barely able to jump in time as the dragon swung its tail at her, but her suit of armor was heavy so she was unable to jump very high so the dragon's tail swept her feet from underneath her and sent her tumbling forward.
While she tumbled along the ground, the cacophonous sound of her armor scraping across the stone filled the room and she lost her grip on her sword and shield. Hinata regained some of her senses and was able to pick up her sword but was unable to reach her shield as she narrowly avoided the dragon's face as it lunged to bite her.
The unnerving sound of the dragon's jaws snapping shut helped Hinata fully regain her senses and before the dragon could return to its attack position she plunged her sword into the dragon's eye, causing it to rear up on its back legs and emit an ear splitting sound that echoed throughout the tower and caused Hinata's ears to ring. The beast then crumbled to the ground and vigorously shook its head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge the sword from its eye or at the very least cause Hinata to lose her grip on the sword and send her flying, but Hinata held on with all of her might. She wondered why it wasn't breathing fire like dragon's did in all of the stories that she had heard from travelers and it was then that she saw its body as it flung its head back in another attempt to send her flying. It actually looked like a traditional dragon. It did not have enormous wings, instead only small ones, and it was more serpent like. Hinata noticed that it still had scales like the dragons in the stories, but its underbelly was not covered in the scales so it was vulnerable.
Hinata only had a few seconds to analyze the dragon so she wasn't completely sure of what to do. She could feel her vice like grip on the hilt of her sword lessening as blood fell into her left eye from where her helm had dented and cut her when she had been sent tumbling after being struck by the dragon's tail. Hinata's eyes narrowed in determination as she waited for the dragon's head to hit the stone beneath it as it swung it's head back down. She timed it so that as it did so she braced her legs against its head and she pulled her sword from its eye but it moved its head upwards as she did so and she flipped through the air and clamored to a stop on her hands and knees still holding her sword.
Hinata stood back up even though the impact sent pain through her and rushed towards the dragon. She got underneath it and aimed straight for its neck and sliced across it then ran her sword down hoping to hit some vital organ before rolling out of the way as the dragon collapsed. She looked up at the dragon and saw it still moving and knew that she wouldn't be able to get away. 'I'm sorry." was all she thought as she shut her eyes and braced herself for some attack that would surely kill her, only to hear the dragon collapse without feeling herself being crushed beneath it.
Hinata got up warily, leaving her sword on the ground and approached the dragon slowly, not seeing it rise and fall with breath. Her hopes were confirmed when she stood in front of it and felt no breath leave its mouth or nose. She sank to her knees in utter astonishment , sending her deep purple hair that peaked out under her helmet cascading over her shoulders and almost touching the floor. The ebony haired boy that started to move finally broke her from her shock and she turned to look at him and quickly got up and untied the rope that bound his hands then he started untying the rope around his feet. She got up and went and picked up her sword and shield, re-sheathing her sword and putting her shield back on her back. Despite her helmet still cutting into her slightly, she didn't remove it because she didn't want the boy to know her identity because she was extremely shy despite her bravery.
When the boy finished untying his feet, he stood up and was silent for a moment. "Who are you?" he questioned finally, his deep voice causing her to jump slightly. She paused slightly before heading towards the door.
"We should be heading back to the kingdom your highness." she stated in a fake deep voice, not wanting to give herself away. He seemed to hesitate slightly but decided to not object and he followed her out of the castle and to where she had tied up the horses. Hinata untied the horses and handed the reins of his horse to him and he accepted them. She turned to her horse and was about to get onto her horse when she felt him tap her arm and she turned towards him and looked up at him. She moved away slightly when he reached for her helmet but he didn't let go of the helmet and she was forced to stop moving because her movement caused her to yelp because the helmet started to cut her more.
The rescued boy carefully took off her helmet, trying not to hurt her further as he heard her yelp and watched as blood trickled from under her helmet. He soon had it off and was surprised to see one of his servants from the castle, one that he spoke with often and actually didn't find bothersome to have around. At the same time, her hair was unmistakable and the blush that colored her face a bright red as she looked away from him was one that he saw often.
"Hinata." he muttered in his deep voice, although it was somewhat questioning because he was amazed at the small girl before him.
"Prince Sasuke." she said and bowed slightly before Sasuke stopped her and handed her helmet back to her as she looked into his eyes with confusion filling hers.
"You needn't bow, you have just saved me, thank you." Sasuke said in a somewhat self-loathing tone because he had been kidnapped and locked in a tower and had needed to be rescued. She looked at him for a moment before speaking.
"We should head back to the kingdom now." Hinata stated and headed back to her horse, dreading the possible questions that she would undoubtedly be asked by the prince on their return trip, and by many others upon their return to the kingdom. Meanwhile, Sasuke was thinking to himself as he prepared himself for the travel home.
'I wonder what will happen when we return. Most of all, I am interested in what she has to say. I'll have to ask her along the way back home.' Sasuke thought to himself before he replied to her comment.
"Yes we should head back home, it is quite a long journey back." Sasuke responded.