The night sky was clear of all clouds. The stars were glowing brightly and the full moons' light shone through the tall trees of the forest. Animals could be heard shuffling about amongst the leaves and twigs on the ground, searching for food. Owls could be heard in the distance along with other midnight predators looking for their prey. The young elvish princess walked by the side of her beautiful white mare, its silvery hair reflecting the moonlight to keep the princess calm in the darkness. Next to her on her other side was her loyal companion; a beautiful grey wolf with gorgeous blue eyes. He had the sharpest instincts in all the land being her lifelong protector and friend. The wolf stopped and looked into the woods, attention straying from the path. The path itself was of grass and ran along the side of the dirt road which was surrounded by tall dark trees on either side of the path.
"Alastor, what's wrong?" her soft voice chimed.
"Something out there?" she asked, leaning down on her knees beside the wolf and running her hands through his fur.
She looked into the darkness, but she was too tired to notice what was out there. They'd been walking all day, only stopping when any of them needed a rest.
"Come boy, we're nearly there. We can rest soon." She murmured. Standing up, she continued her walk along the pathway, unaware of the danger following her and her two friends.
Lights from an inn shone up ahead, illuminating its presence. Before settling for a meal in the inn, the young female elf had some business with an old friend. She entered a nearby barn, passing several horses before reaching the back of the barn.
"That's a lovely creature you have by your side." A voice came from the dark shadows in the barn.
She looked up, the hood of her cloak hiding her features. "Good evening, Shinji." She smiled.
"What can I do for you?" A tall man stepped out from the shadows; he had dark messy hair and dark blue eyes, almost the colour of the night sky.
"I've come to ask if you'll look after Amalthea for me-just until I get back." She requested.
"Of course." Shinji answered, taking the reins from her hands.
The beautiful white horse neighed, calling out to her mistress. "Shh girl; don't worry-I'll be back soon-promise." She whispered, stroking the horse's white nose.
She looked up at her old friend with a look of seriousness in her eyes. "I don't ask this favour for free; name your price." The elf murmured.
"If I recall, I owe you a favour," Shinji laughed. "So it's free." He said.
"Thank you." She replied.
"Have you had any luck?" the young man asked the princess.
She bit back the tears that were fighting their way to freedom, hiding her deep sadness.
"Nothing." She replied softly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" her tall dark haired friend asked.
"Thank you for the offer, but I really ought to get some rest. Alastor needs it too." She looked down at her furry little friend and smiled.
"Have a safe night alright?" Shinji told her.
"I will-don't worry." She smiled.
With Alastor following her, she entered the Inn and walked up to the reception. They handed her a key without her needing to ask, and she took a seat at a nearby table. From the far corner of the room cloaked in darkness, a pair of amber eyes watched her closely. They watched as she knelt down, keeping her hood up and speaking a few words in another language to her furry companion who settled down and slept while she ordered something to eat. Bells chimed as the door opened; a group of three men walked in and sat at a table, muttering amongst themselves and occasionally glancing over at where the girl was sitting. She noticed their strange behaviour but ate her meal in silence.
As she went to stand up, the three men jumped her pinning her body to the ground. "Got you missy." One of the men snarled.
"You're the ones who've been following me?" She asked, one hand clasped tightly on her hood and the other hidden under her cloak.
"Good girl; now, you'll be coming with us." The same man grinned, showing his ugly rotten yellow teeth.
From the shadowy corner emerged the ranger who had been watching the hooded girl ever since she walked into the inn; he approached the three who were holding the young maiden down to the floor- from his strong build it was easy to tell that he was male, even under his dark cloak.
"You're ruining the peace of this inn." He muttered, his voice like soft velvet.
He pulled the one who seemed to be the leader from the girls' frail body and dragged him outside.
"Hey-what do you think you're doing!?" one of the other men shouted out at him, chasing after their boss.
The other followed which gave the cloaked maiden her chance of retaliating.
"Alastor!" she called upon her companion who immediately sprang into action, leaping onto the back of her offender that was last to go after his two companions, knocking him into the ground. She dealt a swift blow to the back of his neck rendering him unconscious and stood at the doorway watching as the ranger fought against the two men. Alastor growled as he went to put one paw forward, but stopped as soon as his master put her hand out in front of him. The fight was over within seconds and she soon found herself confronted by the ranger.
"What's this-a ranger stepping away from the cloak of darkness?"
He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her upstairs; the grey wolf growled and posed himself for attack, but she stopped him once again with a small flick of the wrist. The cloaked man opened a door-probably the room he was staying in for the night-and pulled the girl in, shutting the door and pushing her into the middle of the room. He walked straight over to the window and opened it, looking for any potential threat.
"You're being followed." He murmured.
"I know." She replied.
"Why were your defences so low?" he chided, pulling the hood of his cloak away from his head. His amber eyes were glowing with fury.
"They weren't-I knew what was going on." She answered calmly. "I just didn't expect a ranger to jump into the fight." She smiled.
He looked over her with curiosity; though he couldn't see her face, her figure couldn't deny her beauty. The dress she wore was a deep midnight blue that clung to her curves and fell loosely to the ground once it reached the hips. Black ribbon decorated her corset and laced her in at the back, while her cloak was also black and made from velvet.
"You're clothes tell me that you are of high ranking, and therefore need to be protected. Your wolf here is your protector, right?" he asked.
"Alastor is my companion, not just a protector. We look out for each other." She answered.
He knelt down in front of the grey wolf and murmured a few words in another language-the same language that she used whenever speaking to her companion.
"Pardon me ranger, but why have you pulled me into this room?" she asked.
"I'm sorry for my rude behaviour, but as I said before-you're being followed. Allow me to keep you company until I know you're safe." He replied.
"I'm sorry, but I must decline." She answered as she headed for the door.
She stopped as she heard the whine from Alastor, as if he was begging her to accept his offer. His tail was wagging which told her that the young ranger could definitely be trusted.
She knelt down and scratched him behind the ear, "I'm sorry boy, I was too tired to think-thank you for reminding me that we both need our rest." She murmured. "May I ask your name?" she asked, looking up at the ranger.
"First I'd at least like to see your face." He answered.
She thought for a moment, trying to decide if she should pull back her hood but also knew it would be risky-especially with her situation. She pulled it back ever so slightly to reveal her facial features, but refused to take it off her head completely. She couldn't reveal her ears and therefore what she was. Amber met jade green eyes; her hair shone in the moonlight, showing its brilliant caramel colour and her soft pale skin. Her long eyelashes brought out the colour of her eyes and her soft pink lips curved into a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, but I can only show my face and no more." Her voice was sad, a hidden wish stuck behind her words. He stared in wonder, amazed at her beauty-he had never seen someone as beautiful as she was.
"My name is Syaoran, and yours is?" he asked.
"It's Sakura." She replied with a kind smile.
"You best be on your guard at all times while travelling-especially someone who's as pretty as you." The dark haired ranger advised.
"I have my own means of protection-not just Alastor." Sakura's soft voice chimed.
"So I've noticed-yet you do not seem to use the weapon." He raised his eyebrows in question, his question disguised by his words.
"I'd rather not take a life of someone if I don't have to." Her deep green emerald eyes showed determination; she had a pure heart, full of love and care for others. Yet behind her determination was a hint of loss and incredible sadness swimming in her emerald pools.
"It's getting late, and you look exhausted. Get some rest while you still can-we leave at dawn."
"Pardon?" Sakura wasn't expecting him to travel with her-nor did she want him too. If he found out what she was, she was going to be in a lot of trouble.
"I will escort you to where you are headed-do not argue I'll just follow you anyway."
Sakura sighed in defeat. "I am headed for the elvish city in the east." She told him.
"Alright; get some rest." He replied without asking any questions.
She walked over to the bed and patted next to her, calling Alastor over to keep her company while she slept. He ran over and jumped up on the bed, moving slightly so that his mistress could lie down comfortably. Syaoran immediately noticed her bare feet; she had no shoes with her, and it was strange that she didn't have any injury to the soles of her feet considering she seemed to be travelling either barefoot or with a horse. He dismissed the thought and returned to keeping guard, picking up sounds and movement from downstairs in the bar and from outside.
Dawn came and the young girl was shaken awake by Syaoran.
"We need to go-now." He urged.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, sitting up and making sure to keep her hood up.
"Your pursuers are getting much closer; seems you have a lot of admirers." He muttered sarcastically.
"You brought this on yourself." She muttered, getting up and fixing her dress- knocking the hilt of her concealed weapon. He pretended to ignore it, not really interested right at that minute what type of weapon she could be hiding under her cloak as his main concern was getting out of there as soon as possible.