Auto POV

He was worried. She was in pain. He wanted to stay. She wanted to leave. "We should stay! After all, we don't have anywhere to go…" She turned to him at his words.

"I want to go. Now." He cringed. Where would they stay? It wasn't proper for the princess to be living in the streets. She took his hand. He looked at her hand. Small. Tiny. Delicate. Precious. She pulled him off his feet, grabbed her clothes, walked out. Outside, he stood at the corner, waiting for her to finish changing, before, yet again, taking her small hand in his.

She looks beautiful… If only the world would recognize.

He looked at her face.

If only… I knew what happened to her before.

"Shiro…. I'm tired.." He heard her soft voice whisper. In a second, he picked her up bridal style. "Sh-Shiro?"

"It's fine princess. You aren't heavy." He nodded reassuringly. Right after he said that, she began to relax. Pretty soon, she fell asleep in his arms.

Walking around, he wandered, looking for a place where they might stay over for a night or was starting to get dark, the sunset turned the clouds a massive amount of colors, blue, purple, pink, orange. He thought everything was fine. No one disturbed them, no one hurt them, all was fine.

"This seems like a reasonable house…." Knock, knock, knock. He knocked three times. He made sure to cover her face with her cloak so they wouldn't be scared. A person came to look out the window. Hearing steps, then a lock turning, the door opened.

"H-Hello?" A fair aged woman and man stood in the entrance. "I-Is something wrong?"

"Im sorry, our house was burned down… We need a place to stay… I beg you, may we stay here for a night or two?" His voice seemed to charm the woman.

"S-Sure…" He nodded and smiled.

"Thank you."

"May I ask what your name is?" He looked at them, unsure whether to say the truth or not.

He decided to tell the truth. "My name's Shiro." She smiled and looked at him.

"Who's this?" She poked at Noah. She giggled slightly.

"This…?" He looked at Noah. "This is your princess."

Astonished, they couple looked at Shiro. "This? This is her highness?" Uncertain, they looked at her sleeping face. "My, she looks like an angel…"

"That's because she is." He smiled at Noah quietly.

"Do you know why she's like that?"

"Like what?"

"So… hurtful… merciless…"

"No… All I know is that both her mother and father died at a young age, and her brother is no longer here for her too. Her training was strict too…" He scowled at where the castle would be. All that was left was rubble.

"That's sad… Its reasonable though…" The woman looked down, guilty for having brought up the memory.

At that moment, Noah cringed and held her head. "Noah? What's wrong?"

"It hurts…" She looked very much in pain. "It… doesn't stop."Soft whimpers can be heard, escaping from her mouth.

"What does?" The woman answered. Noah held onto Shiro.

"What's she saying?" He had already forgotten she was world, dark, silent, yet they still ridiculed her. So much had happened that past month.

"Tell us what hurts." He embraced her, trying to get her to calm down.

A slow, yet loud response, "Everything."

He looked closer at her face. She was indeed crying. He used his thumb and wiped away her tears. "Can you explain why?"

She looked at him. All she thought was, Should I tell them? It wouldn't hurt, would it? At least I know Shiro wont laugh… All my worries would be lifted… No more weight on my shoulders anymore… I'll have someone to have a shoulder to cry on.. Someone to laugh with...Just like..Luke… She cried for a it, after calming down, she started.

"It all starts with me, being born into the Pristine was me, my older brother Luke, my mother; the queen, and my father; the ruler.I would play with Luke all the time, I sang for him, he played his music. Until I nearly caused his death.I was never the same... As I grew older, I would lock myself into my room, bored out of my mind, reading the same book over and would pick the lock, get into the room when I didn't notice, and was sucked into the book I would be reading. He would hug me, try to get me out of my room, but it never worked. My father soon grew ill. I still didn't have the guts to leave my room to see him. During this time, my mother would slip me notes, saying things like, "Your princess training will start tomorrow." To be honest, I was scared to death. My instructor would pull me out of my room. My only safe place. My room is filled with portraits of one… person… The prince of the Boretain family. I fell in love. I wanted him to myself. I sent him a marriage … declined. I was… so hurt. He fell in love with someone else. I spent half my time in my room sulking on how much I loved him, but he didn't love me back. I was 12. My body became very fragile. I was like a doll. Manipulated by a person to do things. My princess training was strict. He trained me in all the wrong ways. He taught me to be hard on people… To be mean so I could get what I want… It rubbed off on me a lot. I thought… I would get Kai to love me… It just made him hate me more… I burned his kingdom… I vowed I would get him one day… My mother was traveling at this time. I heard there was a really big storm across the seas where she was. She drowned later that day. My brother and I were chosen to decorate the castle black to tell the people both my parents were dead, but Luke would be stepping up to the plate… Luke died a day before his coronation. He couldn't take the pressure… I got out of my room once in a while… Just for Luke. I found him hung out the back window. It was a disgusting sight. But once I touched him, I felt like I loved this deep, red, divine liquid we all carry...Blood.I loved the way it felt on my fingertips. The way it looked. It drove me insane. Rumors spread that I killed him to take his place. Those idiots…I wouldn't kill Luke. I actually wanted him to be king. I felt like… I was the one who got all the attention. He would get it. I was happy for a while. Now..Its my turn… My mother gave me a letter before she left. I have to get married before coronation. I'm sorry mum… I can't fulfill your wish… Ever since they all died, I hear whispers. Ones telling me to die. They tell me mean things. It wont stop. It's my own mind. My mind knows what I hate… It used its advantage." Having heard that, the woman and man both broke into tears.

"I knew she wasn't like that!" The woman cried. The man tried to comfort her. "We are Justine and Fletcher Grief, we are loyal to you our dear princess. Please stay as long as you want." Shiro's eyes widened. Of course Noah looked at him confused.

"What?" He whispered in her ear what she said."Really?" She covered her mouth with her hands and secretly smiled. "Thank you…" She whispered.

After a short tour around the place, Noah decided she was tired. "I-Im tired Shiro." She got up to the room she would be staying. It looked much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. She sat on the bed, "I'm not really tired, am I…" She looked at the open window and it's flowing curtains. "I wish to be like you… All light, flowing…. carefree." She walked up to the curtains in her nightgown, treading behind her. Clutching the curtain in her hands, she brought it to her face.

"Around the time the streets fall into a deep slumber and the darkness bewilders one's heart, I will lure you into the labyrinth of my body,

When did it all start? When we came to our senses, we've already come this far,

Let us sink to the bottom of a sinful sea forgetting about everything else.. " She sang, wanting to let go of all her worries. She looked out of the was beginning to look dark, the grass seeming moist and wet, she wondered how it would feel, tickling the bottom of her small feet. She looked down at her feet, her eyes slowly trailing up to the edge of the window. Taking one foot, she stepped up on the edge, one hand supporting her body, looking out into the town. "My...How pretty it looks.." She looked down. Not a long drop… Swinging the other leg in front of her, she was about to jump, and she did. For those few seconds, she felt like she was flying, her nightgown fluttering in the opposing winds. Stretching her hands out, to prevent her from hurting herself anymore than she would, she used her hands to propel herself into the air, landing back on her feet. Indeed did the moist grass tickle the undersides of her feet,she ran across the yard. "It's like I'm free!" She yelled, twirling in some steps, getting dizzy, then falling back down. Giggling, she stood up.

"What'chya doing here?" A figure stood before her. She realized she could hear it.

"S-Shiro?" He came closer. "S-Shiro?" She began to panic, not picking herself up. She was too afraid to know, she kneeled before her.

Slowly reaching out his hand, "Hey kiddo." She jumped a bit.

"Shiro! Don't scare me like that!" She sighed and leaned her head down.

"Sorry." He chuckled resting his hand on her head,ruffling it up a moved his hand off her head.

"Question is what are you doing here?" She looked up at him, scowling, ready to tell him he's lying.

"I followed you." She was about to say he was lying but, alas it was the truth. She pouted and got up.

"Im old enough to go outside by myself." She heavily breathed out before standing up.

"Its my job to accompany my princess wherever she is."She stood by her and bowed until they were the same height.

"But what if the-" She was cut off by Shiro telling them he already solved that. She huffed out once more. "Lets go then Shiro." She started running, she never felt so… so free. The grass caressed her feet, taking shape within every step she took. Shiro hurried behind her. She turned around, noticing he was having trouble. "Shiro! This is the only time I'll let you slack off, be more carefree!" She turned back around and ran, laughing, giggling, looking around, she tripped once, ruining her outfit a bit, but best of all she was smiling. It was a rare occasion she smiled, he made the best of it.

They sat down under a tree, all out of breath. "Shiro?"

"Yes princess?" He asked holding her in his lap so she doesn't get dirty.

"Can I sleep on you?" She asked, not looking at him. Her expression changed. No longer happy, but with a stern, unhappy face.

"Of course, Noah." She looked at him in surprise. "I-I mean princess!" She giggled at his fix-up.

"Its okay to call me Noah, you know. But I'll only allow you." She laid her head on his chest and began to drift off to sleep.

He swore he heard her mumble a bit. "R-Ranno…G-Get away from him…"... Every few seconds she had an outburst. "Kai! No!" It kept going. Sometimes she woke up and cried for a bit. She fell asleep soon after. "Irri, you dumbass…." The last thing he heard before she was quiet was, "D-Don't hurt Shiro Ranno…" Ranno? Who's that? He never heard of a name like that. Ranno… Sounds foreign. Just the sound of it lingered on the tip of his tongue. Ra-nno. Sounding it out, made him want to say it more. He said it in his head, not wanting to wake up Noah. Leaning back onto the tree, he tried to get up without waking her. Supporting her fully with one hand, he pushed himself up the his remaining hand. Putting his other hand back, he pushed her closer to his chest, trying to make the position as comfortable as possible for her. Looking up, the sky became dark, clouds ominous and scary, looking as if it were to pour any second.

Shaking her a bit, "Noah, Wake up for a second." She rolled her neck a bit and yawned then sitting up. He put her down and kneeled, his back facing her. "Get on my back, I'll carry you quicker this way." She did as he said and climbed on his back, wrapping her arms loosely around his shoulders while he supported her with his arms in back of him. Going back to grab his shoes he left, he then ran quickly, sprinting across the field. Lightly, Noah felt the rain hit the tip of her nose. Then one drop by one, the rain came down harder. He set her down and took off his jacket. "Hold this over your head. I wouldn't like the princess to be sick." He set the jacket over her head, covering her hair, and she climbed back onto his back. Setting off again, he ran towards the house they were staying at.

Click, Click, Click. The sounds of his footsteps became mesmerising.