Disclaimer: I do not own the cartoon, Pucca, only the plot. I write for my amusement, not for profit.

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Chapter 1

Everything around her was a blur. But she could see a girl from a distance. Her black hair was braded into a long rope over her shoulder and a flower was tucked behind one ear. She was pretty. Their eyes met and the girl smiled at her. She could feel her own face smiing in return and she ambled towards the girl.

A shadowed entity appeared beside the girl. It seemed insubstantial and formless.

The girl's smiling face contorted to one of fear. She was frozen as the shadow slowly crept up her body.

"Don't touch her!" She realized it was her own voice.

The dark creature turned to her and all she could see were its dark eyes. What she saw there made her shiver in fear. They were cold, cruel and filled with pure molten hatred.

Suddenly, more shadows came from no where and headed towards her with inhuman speed. She had no idea what was happening. She couldn't move as they engulfed her."Let me go!" Pain erupted on every part of her body then all she could see was darkness.

"NO!" She heard an anguished scream.

She jerked and was instantly awake. Her breathing was ragged as her heart hammered inside her chest. She laid still as she waited for her heartbeat to even out.

Her head throbbed in pain. The girl groaned hoarsely. Her throat felt tight and dry as if she hadn't used it in a while.

"Where am I?" she rasped out, but there was only silence. She was alone.

Her dazed eyes scanned the unfamiliar place. It was dark and save for the simple bunk bed she was lying on, the room was completely empty. There were no windows and the only light there was streaming through the gaps on the edges of the closed door. The shadows ghosting on the brick walls seemed to close on her. She couldn't help but be scared again even as the remnants of her dream began to fade.

She tried to rub the sleep from her eyes but found that she couldn't. Her hands were stretched above her head and were bound to the metal bars on the bed. Her feet were extended widely as they were tied with a thick rope to the metal bars on the bottom corners of the bed.

She pulled on her ropes and tried to loosen them but the rope was too tight. She tried again and again, vainly twisting her hands and feet free. Several minutes later, her skin was rubbed raw and bleeding.

"Argh!" She cried from the pain and frustration. With herself spread eagle on the bed, she was vulnerable. She needed to get out. She had to get out.

She tried to recover her scattered wits and remember how she got into this situation but there was none. What happened? She tried to remember… but her mind came up with a blank. Her head throbbed as she tried to remember anything.

Panic was welling in her chest. In spite of her wounds, she pulled on her ropes, the metal bars only rattled noisily.

The door creaked open and she saw a large foreboding shadow hovering by the door. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd wake up." The deep voice resonated in the still room touching something inside her. Familiarity. She clung to it like a lifeline.

"Who are you?" Despite her inner turmoil, her voice came out strong and challenging. "Show yourself."

There was a rumbling of laughter but he made no effort to comply. "So bossy. Someday, that tongue's going to be your undoing."

Weariness and bewilderment clawed at her. "Why am I tied up?" Her eyes were spitting fire at him.

"Obviously, that's what happens when you break into my property" he answered scathingly.

She did that? She closed her eyes trying to jog her memory. Nothing.

She felt movement beside her. When she opened her eyes, they connected with his boots which were striding determinedly towards her. Light chased away the shadows as her eyes drew up his long legs covered by dark blue trousers. A white shirt and dark blue jacket hung on his tall, muscular frame. But when her eyes reached his face, she gasped at what the light had illuminated for her. He had a white X scar that marred his otherwise handsome, chiseled face. Even just looking at his hardened features, she knew he was a dangerous adversary.

"Just what were you planning when you invited yourself here?" He was standing at the foot of her bed sneering as he stared down at her.

"I don't remember." She croaked.

"Don't lie to me! Tell me how you found this place!" He thundered furiously. His angry display scared her and made her very aware that she was held immobile. But his eyes, cold and cruel, spoke to her in a deeper level. She knew this man.

Who are you? She didn't know that she'd spoken her question aloud until she saw the shock that was evident in his wide eyes and rigid posture. "I- I think I know you from somewhere. Who are you?"

For a moment, he looked as if he was going to yell at her again. Then gradually, she saw his anger fading as he stared at her silently. Something in the way he looked at her made her more uneasy.

"What makes you think you know me?" He asked her slowly, carefully.

"I don't know." She answered lamely.

" Who are you?" He sneered at her.

She shook her head weakly.

He was strode towards her before sitting on the bed beside her. His eyes were narrowed in assessment. "What do you remember?" He asked suspiciously.

She struggled with herself whether or not she should tell him. But in the end, she knew that she had no choice. "Nothing." The word echoed inside her. There was nothing. She was nothing but an empty shell.

"You're lying. Garu put you up to this, didn't he?" He snarled.

"I don't know who I am, okay! Let alone someone named Garu! " Tears burned the back of her eyes but she controlled them. She'd be damned before this man saw her crying.

The man before her just stared at her in silence. "If what you're saying is true, maybe, I can afford to untie you, after all." He was mumbling as if he was talking to himself more than to her. Nevertheless, she let out a sigh of relief.

Her breath was caught in her throat when the man suddenly placed his hands on either side of her body and leaned closer to her face. Her blood ran cold at his closeness even when she could feel his heat radiating off his body. No, this is not happening.

She opened her mouth to scream but he roughly covered it with a hand. She thrashed her head about before angling her head to avoid his unnerving eyes. This left the delicate skin on her neck exposed.

He nuzzled her neck before whispering cruelly in her ear, "Just because you've forgotten your scheming and trespassing, doesn't mean I've forgotten it too. I'm going to untie you but you'll still be my prisoner. You don't know who I am and what I'm capable of. Just know that you can't escape me. And if you even try, I'll put you back in this room and tie you to this bed. If you know what's good for you, you will do exactly what I tell you to do. I'm going to untie you now and you're not going to do anything stupid are you?"

She shivered at the look in his eyes and quietly nodded.

He pushed himself from the bed and started with her feet then her arms, bruised and lacerated with her struggles with the ropes. When she was loose, she suddenly kicked him in the gut then pushed him aside.

She ran for the door. When she reached it, her cold and numbed fingers fumbled with the door knob. "God, help me. Please."

She heard the man curse somewhere behind her. In a second, a hand grabbed her and her back slammed against a solid body. Steely arms surrounded her, pinning her arms on either side of her.

She hissed and struggled against him.

"Dammit! Stay still!" He forcefully held her down against the wooden door. If she didn't get splinters, she was sure she'd have a bruise on one side of her face.

"Let me go you bastard!" She hissed. She tried to kick him but in a split second, she was lying on the floor. His hands pinned hers above her head and his knees pinned the lower half of her body.

"Now, tell me. How is this not stupid?" He smirked seemingly amused by her efforts to escape. But she wasn't fooled. There was too much heat in his eyes. Behind his nonchalant demeanor, he was livid because she mislead him. Almost…

"I don't trust you!" She hissed her chest heaving with every breath she took. "Staying with you would be the stupid thing to do. And I'd be damned if I let you order me around like some slave!" Her tirade over, her chest rose and fell as she took in ragged breaths.

The shadows in his eyes held her captive and his whispered words held her speechless. " You're injured, you don't know who you are, you have no belongings and you have nowhere else to stay. We're in the middle of the forest. It would take you days to even get to the nearest village And even if you managed to survive the journey, you'll still be helpless."

She swallowed. Tears clogged her throat. Was he right?

"Like it or not, you'll be staying with me. And until you can regain your memory and give me answers, you're not leaving." He let her go and sat up.

Her head still throbbed and there was too much to absorb. Her apparent amnesia, her trespassing into private territory and this enigmatic man…

"I'm going to overlook this pathetic attempt to flee. Don't count yourself lucky next time."

He stood up and she scrambled on her feet. She felt dizzy and swayed unsteadily. Surprisingly, he caught her. Her mind was too tired to come up with a reason why he didn't just let her fall instead of acting all decent. She must've wasted the last of her energy trying to fight him. When she tried to massage her temples, she winced in pain. She looked at her fingers, they were dusty and bloody from a deep gash on her head.

She realized she was still leaning on him for support and he had a steadying grip on her shoulders. Disgusted with herself, she pushed herself from him only to sway again.

"For God's sake!" He exclaimed before he curved an arm each under her shoulders and knees, respectively, and straightened, her limp body folding up and curling against his chest. She closed her eyes and yawned her breath hot and slick against his neck.

Before she knew it, she was being laid against a soft mattress. She knew she was on a different bed since the previous one wasn't as comfortable as the one she was laying on now.

She felt herself being tucked under the covers. She let him. She was too weak to do anything about it anyway. "I've already sent someone to deal with your injuries. Maybe the sooner you're well, the sooner you'll get your memories back. " A second later, she heard his footsteps become fainter and fainter.

She cracked open an eyelid and saw him moving towards the door. "Wait." She said feebly.

He paused but he didn't turn around. He didn't say anything as he waited for her to continue.

"Who am I?" She needed to know before she could let herself drift into the dark abyss of sleep.

He didn't answer for a minute. "I don't know. We don't know each other. I've never met you before this."

She was not going to cry out her frustration.

"And… who are you?"

He turned and walked out the door but before he closed it, he turned to her and said, "Just call me Tobe." then the door closed with a click.

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Author's notes: This story would be darker than my usual writings. So rating may change as the story progresses. That is, if you guys think this one's worth pursuing.