Knights and curses Ch.4
Sacrifices or Saviors
Sakura felt any residual worries leave her as soon as she noticed she was probably half way there; her entire ride was in deep thought. It was as if the realization of Sasuke leaving had inevitably compelled her to help him. Knowing a lot was at risk for him could be a reason as to why she did it but titles were nothing. Not when your family is out there, possibly alive.
Having had lost her family in the ogre war as a child did not allow her to remember their faces or even the sound of their voice. She might be biased but if put in his position, she would have done the same: except she wouldn't wait four years to do it.
She wondered about the beast too, having had done research and a little of asking around, she found the whole race to slay the beast ever so suspicious. It just didn't seem ideal to send your best knights head first to slay a beast that no one had any information on- would the kings get something of it? It seemed to be the case as 9 of the kingdoms best men had been sacrificed.
Perhaps that was exactly it, sacrifices. Even her own home town of Sethoroth held sacrifices when the harvest left the people weary and concerned for their crops, in the fire kingdom and Sand, rain was scarce during the summers, other than that the rain was simply unpredictable.
Up ahead of her, she spotted a town through the groves of trees that paved a narrow path for her hose to take that led her directly to the entrance of the town. She decided that stopping here would be the best for she felt the weight her lack of sleep impending upon her.
She hadn't slept since hurrying off in her pursuit of the cave that held the unknown beast. It really bothered her that no one ever saw the beast, it's the only thing that frightened her as people said it was a dragon, a snake and even as far as a Hydra; a five headed monster that grew two heads where one was cut off.
She also knew if she died no one would bother to come looking for her, she had no family, no authority and no immediate importance to anyone, that's why it was so easy for her to take Sasuke's burden, because he still had a shot at happiness, and in their short time getting to know one another, Sakura came to look at Naruto and him as family, they were the closest to it, as was the old Blacksmith who she had learned so much under his tutelage.
All of this was thought of as I tied my horse up after finding a nice grassy area for it and would feed it before finding herself an in to spend the night in. Really, she shouldn't be thinking too much into things because it would be useless upon finding the beast.
In her mind, it was the ultimate test of her strength, there would be no better where her true instincts and nature would show, she did not think herself a coward and frowned upon the idea of all her hard training being for naught. Anyone whom you asked that knew of her had been made to acknowledge that all she worked toward was being a Knight and part of that was doing what others wouldn't dare to do.
Pouring water into a bowl she brought with her on her travels, she gently pet the her brown horses mane before moving toward the town and observing it along the way to finding a inn. The town looked old and had lots of plants growing up the sides on many of the houses. There was a well and a work shop then a barber shop and general store, but no inn. Nearing a tempting bakery that distracted her, she found a tavern one store down from it.
The tavern was green, and one of the larger buildings around as far as I could see. It was nice and breezy out and the night added peace to the town as I opened the large brown door. There was a nice warmth to the place and it was dimly lit. A bald elder man sat behind a small table halfway into the room.
"What brings you here Traveler ?" he blatantly inquired. I pondered telling him a fib.
"nothing much, to slay a beast" He laughed, her casualty caused him to stop, looked at her appearance, it was truth when said her attire was for practicality and no women in this time was thought to dress like a man.
"the beast is unparalleled, with the strength of gods. No mortal; not even the likes of our kingdoms strongest knights have conquered such an anomaly" I smirked, who was he trying to thwart.
"i have courage and a great purpose for being here so that is little reason for me to back down. But if what you say is true then why do these kingdoms even bother doing such a thing?" The old man's eyes glinted, and he handed me a key.
"for power"
Note: I genuinely don't know how long an update is overdue but here's something to start with. Thanks for all the comments as well and yeah, it's probably ItachixSakura. You're right in saying Sakura and Sasuke seem more like family than anything which is the leading factor in her doing this. Also: ill be posting another story from my Wattpad if interested. Other than that, I appreciate constructive criticism as it is always beneficial.
