Fun fact: I had expected the story to be finished months ago and because of that most of the earlier chapters feel a little too short and rushed to me.

To say Nari's awakening was rough was an understatement. The carriage suddenly lurched forward, causing her to tumble off the seat and to the floor below. That immediately woke her up. She sat up, rubbing her head.

"Wha-?" she looked around, realizing she was still in the carriage. It seemed a little dark out, as if the sun had just a little more life to give before night came. At first she thought they had arrived, but the commotion outside said otherwise.

There was a lot of yelling. The horses on the other carriage were crying in alarm and stamping their hooves into the ground. They were frightened, something was wrong. She lifted the veil over the window and peered out. To her surprise and horror, soldiers she had never seen before were attacking her guards. She gasped and fell back down, hoping none of them saw her. Nari didn't know what to do. She sat frozen in the carriage as she heard her guards outside being harmed.

The door to the carriage was soon pried open, revealing the scared princess inside. It was one of the strange soldiers.

"The princess is in here!" he shouted. Nari felt frozen. The soldiers pulled her from the carriage. She tried resisting, but it was like trying to fight the rain as it fell. She stopped resisting and they dragged her. She heard her feet scrapping against the ground as the soldiers held her up by the arms.

"What are you doing with those?" one soldier asked.

"I'm going to cut her hair."

"Cut her- why do you need to cut her hair?!"

"Well I mean we're going to need proof that we actually killed her."

"We're bringing the princess back to Hiryuu Castle! What proof do you need?!"

"For my friends back home," she heard a small snip from the back of her head.

"That was completely unnecessary."

"Well the princess's hair is really pretty and-"

Nari suddenly rammed into the nearest soldier, knocking him over. She then twisted out of the grip of the other soldier holding her. Freed, she scrambled to stand up and grabbed a nearby thick branch as a pretend weapon. The soldiers pulled out their swords and slowly approached her.

"Just calm down and come with us..." one soldier said. There were six of them, too many for her to handle on her own.

However Nari was the daughter of one of the most powerful warriors in Kouka. She had been training with the King and the Sky Tribe general for years. Yet...

She ran.

She dropped her stick and ran deep into the forest. She stumbled over the brush, clawing at branches to push them out of the way or keep herself from falling.

However Nari soon found herself cornered. A rushing river swirled in front of her. The soldiers were coming closer. They were within sight with their swords drawn.

"She's over here!" one soldier shouted. The others started running and gathering towards her. Instinctively, she backed away and onto the rocks of the river. She was shaking in fright.

"There's no where to run princess," they took small steps to close in on her. She took a step back. But her foot felt no ground, neither did the other foot. She had slipped and plummeted into the river.

Her panic worsened. She clawed at the water, but found nothing. All the sounds were muffled around her. Her tongue was surrounded by the river water. She was moving, but not on her own. Nari was cold.

She continued clawing at nothing. Hoping to reach the surface and get some air. Her body was rapidly draining of strength. Just when she thought hope was lost, her hands touched something. She clung to it with all her might and used it to climb out of the frightening waters.

A tree had fallen across the river. It's branches extending into the water. The water rushed around those branches. Thanks to that Nari was able to taste the sweet air. She grabbed onto the tree's trunk and rested there for a few minutes. Coughs escaped her throat and her body rejected the mass of water she had taken in. But she was safe for now.

After her fits had calmed down, Nari hoisted herself onto the tree's trunk. She maneuvered her way across the wood and past its branches until she finally reached land. Nari knew she was on the other side of the riverbank now. In any case, she was safe from the soldiers for now. How far away were they? She didn't know. Nor did she care. The minute her foot reached the dirt, she collapsed. Tired, cold, and alone Nari felt her eyelids grow heavy. She stared at her open palm as she slowly drifted to sleep.

"Heh... A strong that brings happiness... I wonder where I lost it..." Nari muttered to herself. Then she let sleep wash over her.

Who...? Someone is calling for me...

Father?

No... This voice is softer. Someone important to me. Shi... Shi...? Who is it?

Why do I feel so sad?

The leaves were rustling. The voice calling her was gone. Instead birds chirped as if they had no care in the world. After listening to their song for a little bit, Nari decided to open her eyes. She didn't find herself looking up at a canopy of trees as she had been expecting. A thatched roof stood over her. Looking around she lay in an unfamiliar house.

Her entire body felt sore, but nevertheless she sat up. Her limbs' screams rose to her throat as a groan.

"Are you awake?" a smile blonde haired man sat a few feet away.

"Ah y-yes..." she rubbed her head. To her surprise her hair was perfectly dry.

"That's a relief!" the man smiled. "You were asleep for five days! You're lucky the gods told me where to find you!"

"Oh?" Nari was too out of it to really comprehend those words.

"I had somebody close to me come by and make sure you were alright. He was really busy and had to leave before you woke up, but he treated some of the injuries you got. He told me that you were fine and you just needed plenty of rest at this point."

"Mhm."

"I'm really glad you're alright, Princess Nari."

"Yeah- wait what?!"

"You're Princess Nari, right?"

"Y-Yeah! But how did you know?!"

"My name is Ik-su. I'm the priest that your father asked to take you in for a little while."

"Eh?! Seriously!"

"Of course!" Ik-su smiled.

"So... Was that all a dream? Those strange soldiers killing my guards and chasing me?" Ik-su's smile disappeared.

"Unfortunately it wasn't. The gods had told me that you were in danger. That you would survive and where I would find you."

"The gods...?" Ik-su smiled at her.

"Rest up a bit more. I'll make you something warm to eat."

"Thank you, um, Ik-su..."

"Of course!"