Disclaimer: Magic Knight Rayearth does not belong to me, but original ideas and characters belong to me. End disclaimer.

Cephiro Ruins

CR 03: Anshell the Warrior

"Easy… easy … easy…"

Sienne whispered to her friend. The night was deep and the stars twinkled above her. Her big furry friend made growling noises whenever Sienne came close to its wound on his chest; however, the animal seemed grateful for the help.

"You look a lot better, my proud friend. Look, the wound has already started to close. You are a very fast healer!"

Golden eyes looked down at Sienne and growled as Sienne peeled back the leaves that nurtured the big creatures delicate wound. Sienne had grinded the remaining Astrailius roots that she had and administered it to his wound. Sienne smiled when she caught the magnificent eyes staring down at her.

"Ah, an improvement on my part! Today, we have finally made eye contact! This moment is my happiest moment today, Anshell! By the way, I have decided to call you Anshell if you don't mind. Mr. Wolf does not seem to suit you." Sienne giggled once more.

The creature snorted at her, looking the other way. Sienne giggled even more when she saw that her newly found, although very proud, friend was being very stubborn to give her a chance.

Anshell was no monster. It has been a good month since she had left the village in search of the Astrailius roots. Her usual routine when she entered the forest is to visit her discrete waterfall to stock up on water and gather leaves and logs to supply her haven, a cave that she found when she was wondering around the forest as a child.

This time, unbeknownst to her, there was a guest in her haven. At first, just the sound of Anshell's growl made her heart drop to her feet. Anshell was a wolf with beautiful gold eyes. The only difference with Anshell and other wolves was that Anshell was at least ten times larger than the other wolves. Sienne never have seen Anshell's height, but even in the lying down position, his head was at least twice the size of Sienne standing up.

It took almost a month to befriend Anshell. It was still hard to approach Anshell, however, the giant wolf allowed Sienne approach him after a month of sitting next to the immobile Anshell. During that time, Sienne would tell him stories of adventure that she had read briefly in Setie's books as well as sing him songs that she had heard the villagers sing to their children. At first, he growled and snarled at Sienne's effort; however, having more stubbornness and tenacity than the giant wolf, the wolf seemed to give up. When Sienne would tell him the stories or sing him the songs, Anshell would have his large head turned away, however his ears were always turned in the direction of Sienne.

"So, did you like my story today, Anshell? Were you listening today? I know you don't really care for the princess and knight stories, but I absolutely adore them." Sienne observed Anshell's wound on his chest. The violent black fur around the wound had already started to grow, covering the now healthy skin.

"You are so special, Anshell!" Sienne arched her back to stare up at Anshell's golden eyes. "I have never seen anyone recuperate as fast as you… If I told anybody about it, they would tell me that I am a liar! It looks as if you didn't have any wound on you!" Sienne giggled as she felt Anshell's short snort, rifling her long brown cloak. Usually, she had her hood on at all times but seeing that Anshell would not judge her for looks, she had her hood down.

"Yes, I know you are amazing! I would say that you don't even have to have this bandage on you anymore. A couple of days and you should be fit to walk or run as you please. You are free."

Sienne secretly wished that this day would last as long as possible. She greatly enjoyed Anshell's presence. There was something about this magnificent giant wolf that attracted Sienne. Friendship, Sienne wished. She never had one before.

Sienne ran her hand through Anshell's thick fur on his chest. Her dimples showed when she felt the warmth of Anshell's chest.

"Anshell, you have such a warm heart. Strong too, why, it beats so magnanimously under my dirty hands," Said Sienne softly. Sienne, without a second thought, leaped into Anshell's chest. Sienne spread her arms out and much as she can so that she can share some of the warmth of Anshell.

Anshell seemingly annoyed by the actions of Sienne growled low and barked once. The vibrations from Anshell's growling caused Sienne to giggle.

"Alright, alright! You're trying to tell me to stop taking advantage of an immobile patient such as yourself, right? I couldn't resist, though!" Sienne reached out gently pat Anshell's nose. "You are just like the knight in my story, remember? The knight was such a stalwart warrior that he gave his life in every battle for the well being of his people. How courageous and romantic!" Sienne was now sitting on a small boulder in front of Anshell. "Why romantic? Well, it says in the book that being the handsome warrior that he is, princesses from all over the world flocked to his land to steal his heart. However, he knew that the only princess for him would be a lady with grace, elegance, and beauty to conquer his callused heart. I read this in Setie's book. Anshell was his name. Fantasy or not, if there was a warrior such as Anshell, I'm sure the world would be a brighter place." Sienne's usual dark blue eyes seemed to be brighter even though it was near midnight.

"I wanted to call you Anshell because, well, all the other names did not seem to fit a magnificent creature such as yourself. My Anshell!"

Anshell had his head down on the ground, away from Sienne. He grunted, sending a storm of dust into the air.

"Good night, Anshell. Tomorrow you are free." Sienne climbed down the boulder and situated herself at the foot of Anshell's toes and closed her eyes. The cave's smooth rocks were cold on her back but happiness gave her warmth. "Tomorrow, you are free, Anshell."

Usually the mornings were unpleasantly cold; however, Sienne was not cold that morning. Before Sienne could open her eyes, she tried to rub her nose when she noticed that her arms were pinned down with something heavy. Sienne opened her eyes to see a mass of black fur on top of her. She turned her head to see Anshell's bum in her face. Anshell was using his tail as a blanket for Sienne. Sienne was shocked by Anshell's implicit kindness. For the time being, Sienne wanted to cherish the remaining time with Anshell. She pretended to remain asleep, but Anshell, having sensed that Sienne was awake removed his tail away from Sienne.

"Hey, now!" protested Sienne. She jumped up and to see that Anshell was sitting up.

A part of her heart was leaping with joy; however the other was brimming with sadness to see that the time to part with Anshell was nearing.

Anshell's height towered over Sienne.

"Hungry? Do you think you can wa-" before Sienne could finish her sentence, Anshel leaped over Sienne and out of the cave.

"Show off!" Sienne's mouth gaped open when she saw the true grace of Anshell. Sienne walked toward Anshell to evaluate his chest one more time. There wasn't even a single disturbance. "Amazing! Your healing abilities are … I can't even start to describe it!"

Anshell yawned loudly and began to stretch out his body. Because Anshell was as tall as two cows, Sienne made sure to stay clear of him so that she wouldn't get trampled.

"I guess you aren't hungry. I have held you long enough." Sienne's heart ached but this was right. "But, I guess this is goodbye, friend. Stay well." Sienne's messy hair shawl revealed some of her odd colored hair, but that wasn't important right now.

Anshell looked at her and cocked his head to one side as Sienne's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Oh, who am I kidding!" Sienne began to bawl as she ran toward the confused Anshell. The wolf cocked his head to the other side as Sienne began to run to him. Sienne ran to his leg and hugged it with all her might.

Anshell growled softly but did not move until Sienne moved away from his leg.

"I'm going to miss you, Anshell. Thank you for your kindness." Sienne dried her eyes on his fur and stepped back.

Sienne smiled at Anshell and waved. Anshell sat down on the ground and looked down at Sienne with his beautiful golden eyes.

"Go on, you are free." Whispered Sienne. Sienne began to walk backwards away from Anshell, waved one last time, and turned around. Sienne sadly walked away from Anshell.

"Almost … almost." After a day of despair, Sienne got back to trying to find some Astrailius roots for Elder Mellar. It took some time to gather her concentration, but in the end, she was able to find her first root. Finding the roots was not a problem for Sienne, it was getting to them that was a problem. The roots were always in hard to reach places that often placed Sienne in danger, however Sienne risked everything to keep her word to Elder Mellar.

Her arm muscles ached as she stretched with all her might to reach out for the Astrailius flower. Her feet were on the tips of her toes on a slender tree branch high above the ground to reach for the flower.

"Come on…" Sienne gritted her teeth to stretch a little more. Perhaps she was pushing herself too much because the tender branch snapped with the pressure that she was putting on the branch.

"AHHHHH!"

Sienne felt tree branches scratch her on the way down. She tasted blood in her mouth. The shawl that was tightly wrapping her hair was rudely snatched from her as well. Her long hair flayed freely in the wind. The fall was endless. Had she climbed that high?

Sienne covered her head, expecting excruciating pain when she landed on the ground but instead of an impact with the ground, she gagged for a second as the flashing world came to a sudden halt.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Thinking her cloak had gotten caught by tree branch, she sighed with relief. Sienne tried to move her hair away from her face when she felt a warm breeze run through her hair. Sienne froze immediately. She put her hands over her face in anticipation of any attack.

Whatever caught her gently placed her on the ground and then it began to sniff around her wounds. Sienne slowly removed her hands from her face to see a curious looking Anshell sitting in front of her.

"Anshell…" Sienne did not even notice the tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so worthless. Why did you come back for me?" Sienne raised her hand when Anshell leaned his nose close to her tears. She touched his whiskers as her tears flowed out of her eyes.

Anshell first licked her tears and then her wounds.

Sienne tried to stay strong and hold the tears back, but each time Anshell licked her wounds, she felt as if her warrior Anshell was protecting her.

Protected. It was a good feeling.

Sienne's world blacked out but she knew that Anshell would be there for her when she woke up.

For some reason, Sienne knew that her world would never be the same again.