In Hoshido, things had been tense for years, ever since their princess had been lost to them. They had shut themselves off from the rest of the continent for fear of something else happening.

The royal children had been affected the most. Especially Prince Kamui. He had so many nightmares of his twin being kidnapped, but never killed. He was adamant that she was still alive, even after all those years. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to go look for her, for fear that he would be kidnapped as well.

At the age of twenty-two, Prince Ryoma was doing his best to follow in his father's footsteps. It was difficult, however, as he had pushed his children away upon Kairi being kidnapped. Ryoma had to step up and help his siblings when King Sumeragi was keeping them at arms-length.

The twenty-year old princess, Hinoka, had become a fierce warrior. Upon the loss of her sister, she had taken up the naginata and trained to be a pegasus knight. She was fiercely protective of her younger siblings and had sworn to protect her home from anything that may threaten it.

Takumi had become harsh as he grew older. He had worked hard to become a master bowman, but he had also gained an inferiority complex. He seemed to think that he needed to be the best bowman in order to get any attention from his family, since Ryoma was such an excellent swordmaster and Hinoka was one of the best Pegasus Knights.

Sakura couldn't remember Kairi at all. And she hated that. Her whole family had grieved the loss of their sister for so long, yet she never got the chance to meet her. The only thing she had was a gift that was meant for her first birthday. Kairi never got the chance to give it to her. She hadn't even known it was from her until she was older. She had become a shrine maiden so she could help people who got hurt.

As they grew older, they started noticing how the family dynamic had changed. Their father had become harsh and strict. He isolated the country from others, especially Nohr. That confused the children. Shouldn't they be working with Nohr to find out what happened to Kairi?

One day, Ryoma asked Kamui and Takumi to gather their retainers and weapons. He wanted them to go somewhere while Hinoka and Sakura took care of things at home, buying them time.

"Oniisan, you never did explain why we need to head to Cheve." Kamui said to Ryoma. They were about to cross into the country, but only Ryoma and his two retainers, Saizo and Kagero, knew what was going on. He turned and faced Kamui after a minute.

"There is a threat in the other nations that could cross over to Hoshido. They are monsters that are referred to as 'faceless'." he explained with the same calm tone he always did. "They attack anyone in their way. We're going to Cheve to aid in their destruction, and perhaps learn their patterns so we can better fight them when they do reach Hoshido."

"Don't you mean 'if'?" Takumi asked. Ryoma shook his head.

"No. I am sure that they will eventually come to Hoshido. They are already slowly approaching the border." There was silence the rest of the way to the city, despite each wanting to ask how he had found out. Chances are it was information gathered by one of the ninjas.

It took another day to get to the city that was being hurt the most by the faceless, and upon reaching the walls, a guard that was stationed at the gate called to them.

"Hold! State your names and your purpose!" Ryoma looked him in the eye as he responded.

"I am Prince Ryoma of Hoshido. These are my brothers and our retainers. We wish to speak to the captain of the guard."

"Why do you wish to speak with her?" he asked, looking the group over. Out of the corner of their eyes, the ninjas noticed that the city had more security than usual. Perhaps the faceless caused so many problems that they needed the extra guards.

"We heard of the faceless. We are here to offer our aid." Ryoma responded. Kamui wasn't sure if the reasoning for their presence was going to be enough. Because of Hoshido's isolation, he didn't know much of the other nations. After another moment, the guard turned to another and nodded.

"She will have to make the decision whether you help us, but we can take you to her." With that, the gates opened, and they were escorted inside the walls. Kamui looked around at the buildings. They were very different from what they had in Hoshido, made mostly of brick or stone instead of wood and paper. The streets were paved with stone as well. It appeared to reflect a hardiness that the country seemed to have. Perhaps Nohr was similar.

"Keep in mind, Captain Scarlet may be busy currently. We have some important people here to help train our recruits and fight off the faceless." the guard explained as he led them to the training ground. There were many people sparring there of very different experience levels. One woman with platinum-blond hair was turned away from them, instructing a slightly younger woman in the basics of swordplay and another, one with brighter blond hair and red armor, was training the axe users. For some reason, the first woman looked familiar to him, but, as she was turned away from him, he couldn't tell from where. "Captain Scarlet! We have some people wishing to talk to you." their escort called to the woman in red. The captain turned from her partner with an irritated look.

"Can this wait?" she called back. The tone was indicative of someone who didn't like being interrupted from training, and apparently the guard was used to it.

"They say they wish to speak with the person in charge. They apparently want to assist with the faceless threat." At that, Kamui noticed a slight change in her eyes. It became more critical as she looked them over. Then she shook her head.

"This is a bit out of my expertise." Then she shouted over to the woman with platinum-blond hair. "HEY! PRINCESS! CAN YOU DEAL WITH SOME DIPLOMATIC JARGEN? DEALING WITH FOREIGNERS SEEMS TO BE A SPECIALTY OF ROYALTY!"

With that, Scarlet went back to training her partner. The woman, who had been identified as royalty, finally turned around to look at them. And what Kamui saw caused him to freeze. Those red eyes. The pointed ears.

He knew this woman!

It was Kairi!

Well, it's been a while. I wanted to post this earlier, but for some reason I kept putting it off. I mean, it's not as if it wasn't done. I just didn't post it.

Let me know what you think. Hopefully, with College almost over for the semester, I can update a bit more frequently over break

Also, what do you think of other stories? I have a few I want to post (My Hero Academia, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, a MHA/FEA crossover), but I'm not sure. Let me know if you're interested.

Also, I want to make a "Updates" thing on here. Anyone know how to do that? It's for all my stories, and not just this one.