The night was cold and wet. Rain pelted down very harshly outside, and inside was no better. The roof had somehow managed to spring a leek, and what was worse was Katanlia's blankets weren't doing their job. At the moment, she was the total opposite of warm.

With a shiver, Katanlia rolled over. She was now facing Vector, who slept in his own bed and was apparently immune to the cold that plagued the girl. While she was utterly fascinated by this, Katanlia ignored it and got out of her bed. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she felt as though she'd been frozen from the inside out. She shook it off, however, and walked across the room to her twin brother's bed. Lazily, she crawled in it with him.

This woke Vector up. He blinked, then stared at Katanlia from where he lay. "Katanlia?" he yawned out, sitting up and stretching. "What's up? Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"No," Katanlia responded, blushing a little bit and being thankful this was a rather dark room. "I'm just really cold."

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?" Vector lay back down and threw the blankets over both of them. He grabbed his twin sister and held her close, transmitting his own body heat over to her. "Feel better?" he asked, looking down at her.

Katanlia nodded. She smiled and scooted close to Vector, placing her head on his chest. "Yes, very. Thank you Vector."

"It's no problem. Now go back to sleep."

That wasn't a problem at all. In an instant, the twins were unconscious, snoring softly and cuddling unknowingly from time to time.

Though the rain continued to pour and it continued to be cold, Katanlia and Vector were safe, sound, and warm together.

XxXxXxXx

When Katanlia awoke the next morning, she nearly forgot she was snuggled against her twin brother. She turned over enough to be able to look outside, staring curiously. Well, the rain had stopped, but the clouds had a long way to go before they were completely gone.

It didn't matter. Katanlia gently pulled away and sat up, stretching as Vector had the night before. She yawned as well before she got out of the bed, then walked out of the room.

And as soon as she rounded the corner, she felt hands grab her arms and hoist her into the air.

Katanlia let out a shrill scream and began to kick at the air. "Let me down!" she demanded, trying her best to escape. "Let me down right this instant!"

"Sorry Katanlia. No can do."

Now, Katanlia froze, her eyes wide with shock. She gulped, then slowly turned her head and stared at the person behind her. As shocking as it was, it was the person Katanlia had been expecting the entire time.

Kiraku.

"Now, listen to me little girl," Kiraku hissed in Katanlia's ear. "I have had it up to here with your and you brother's actions. This is the forty-fifth time this month you've destroyed something I've spent a whole day doing. Now, you're going to pay."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say, I created something that there is no way you can destroy." Kiraku's eyes glowed pink for a moment. Katanlia gasped in shock. She knew what was going on, for she spent most of her time reading up on old legends as a kid. Her mouth was cupped as she was about to scream for Vector. Which could only mean one thing.

She was in biiiig trouble.

XxXxXxXx

The clouds were still hanging overhead. Katanlia couldn't believe that the sky was so dark at the moment. She also couldn't believe she was stuck tied to a pole. All around it was black powder, and as soon as Katanlia had seen it, she knew that Kiraku planned to light her on fire.

"Just let me go," Katanlia pleaded, looking at Kiraku from where she was tied. "I promise that Vector and I won't mess with your hard work stuff anymore. Just let me go first."

This caused Kiraku to let out a horrific laugh, one unlike any Katanlia had ever heard him make. "That's not gonna happen. See, if I get you outta the picture, Vector won't have anyone to screw my work up with. I ain't takin' the chance of letting you go to find the two of you doing the opposite of your promise, little princess."

Katanlia gulped. She hadn't seen anybody else when Kiraku had abducted her. That meant that, most likely, nobody would hear her screams when the flames began to consume her.

"Have fun Katanlia. Hope you're good at coolin' off," Kiraku said, taking a couple of rocks and hitting them so hard that they sparked. One of said sparks hit a stick nearby, instantly lighting it on fire. Kiraku wasted no time in grabbing it and tossing it over the black powder.

For some reason, one Katanlia couldn't understand, the flames were about as fast as a slug. Katanlia had tears in her eyes as they began to pick up a little speed, then began to grow. They slowly began to hit Katanlia, causing her to cry out every time one hit.

Those cries were quite loud, and despite the fact they were in a vacant city, the forest near it was not. A young man with forest-green eyes and brown, tentacle-like hair jolted up, staring at the cloud of smoke that was being formed from the city. At first, he payed no mind to it.

But when he heard Katanlia's scream, he began to rush away with complete and total confidence he could save whoever was being harmed.

When he got there, he was shocked to see the princess of the nearby land being burned at the stake.

"Hey!" the man yelled, charging towards Kiraku. "Let her go!"

"Huh?" went Kiraku. He didn't have time to react before the blow hit him in the face. In an instant, he was on the ground, and before he could get back up, the man who'd punched him was in the flames.

Katanlia, to say the least, was hurt, and badly. She could barely breathe, let alone feel it when the arms of the man who'd punched Kiraku circled around her. But she didn't dare to fight it. If anything, she sank into the embrace as the heat vanished from her. She could hear a gasp, and felt fingers trace across her chest.

"Oh no," somebody said. Katanlia could feel it as they picked up speed, rushing away with her in their grasp. For once, she didn't care where they were going. Anywhere was fine, so long as she was away from Kiraku and his craziness.

XxXxXxXx

The man didn't stop running, not even when he was on the castle steps. He'd made it at last. Carrying Princess Katanlia fifteen miles wasn't exactly smooth sailing for him, but he was determined to get her to safety.

Almost there, he thought. Just gotta get to the doors...

And get to the doors he did. He just about ran into them. Well, actually, he did, but he'd been able to turn around and ram into them with his shoulder. Though that caused him great pain, he didn't let it stop him. When the soldiers of the castle swarmed him, all he had to do was show them Katanlia was injured. They backed off, allowing him to race up to the throne.

Just his luck. At the moment, Vector sat upon it. And upon his face was the most freaked out look of fear the man had ever seen.

"K-Katanlia...," Vector stammered. He got up and slowly made his way down the stairs that led to the throne, then took in his twin sister's appearance. Her clothes were scorched, and she was hardly breathing. Judging by the looks of the man that held her in his grasp, he'd been hurt by the same flames trying to save her. Vector looked up, staring into the forest-green eyes across from him. "How did this h-h-happen to her?"

"I don't know. There was another man there. Tall, greenish hair. Buff. I knocked him down, your highness, and saved your beloved twin sister. But I fear she may not make it without proper treatment, which is why I did not stop my journey to bring her back."

Vector's eyes were clouded with tears. "I know who did this," he growled. He then motioned with his hand and began to run up the stairs. The man chased after him, not daring to stop until they arrived at their destination.

They raced through four sets of doors and took a sharp left, then went into a single room. Vector ran to Katanlia's bed, pointing to it. "Here. Set her here, please," he said. The man across from him nodded and did as he was told, placing Katanlia in her bed and covering her up to her chest with the blankets. Katanlia stirred, but did not wake up.

Awkward silence. That was soon all they heard.

Vector was the one to break it, as usual.

"T-Thank you for brining Katanlia here," he said, turning and facing the man next to him. "Who are you?"

The man smiled softly. "Alit. My name is Alit. I'm a gladiator in one of the nearby towns. Katanlia's lucky I happened to be patrolling the forest in search of a nice area to train. Otherwise, she may not be here at the moment."

Vector smiled to himself. "Yes. I suppose she is rather lucky. Kiraku, however, is in for a mess of trouble."

"Commander Kiraku? He's the one who did this?"

"Yes, he is." Vector turned back and looked at Katanlia. He placed a hand on her cheek, then sighed, thankful of her luck. He glared, remembering what he planned to do to Kiraku.

"Well, what're you going to do?" Alit asked.

"I'm going to have him arrested, and most likely executed."