A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Here's the next chapter.

A War of Two Hearts

Chapter Three: A Failed Mission

It has been only a few dark moments since the riot at the kingdom started. Many of the buildings were now collapsing, while some were already demolished to the ground. Rain poured on the remains and left the kingdom in ruins. It was too late to save the kingdom, for their defenses and army had now fallen. The General's troops had triumphed over the last of the free kingdoms and now the civilians were left defenseless. When all was hopeless, the surviving civilians knew they no longer had a choice to live. They were either beheaded or skinned alive. Many suffered and were just tortured to their death. Matt and the other troops began to praise to their victory, yet they still wondered if their captain finished the task with no difficulty.

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Drops of heavy rain continuously poured down the now fallen kingdom. The skies grew even darker, filled with multiple flashes of blue lightning accompanied with the drumming of thunder. Heavily poured water soaked the ground and created pools of mud. The two young men remained locked in combat, a combat until death. Both were at each other in this fierce battle of blades, their eyes monitoring every move of the other. As the two fought, masses of mud on the ground began to build up around them causing some difficulty moving.

Rich, who was now soaked from the rain, became exhausted from this intense duel. He was astonished with his lack of judgement for this man, unaware that his brown-haired opponent had indeed mastered extroadinary fighting skills. The man was barely even wounded. Rich on the other hand, suffered from a few deep cuts on his leg and shoulder.

"You're a poor excuse for a soldier you know that!" Tai said, holding his sword up and trying to project his voice through the thundering noise. "I thought this would be sort of a challenge for me but it looks like this is all too simple!"

Rich glared at Tai angrily, "You're the poor excuse for a soldier! What you do is destroy cities and kill innocent people!!"

Tai just chuckled at that, "You should've thought twice about resisting the power of Lord Kyo! You should've known that you can never hide from him! He is the most powerful Lord in this world and I'll make sure he stays at that!"

Rich moved forward to strike at Tai but found that his foot got stuck in a deep puddle of mud and lost his balance. Tai took this moment and stabbed his sword into Rich's stomach. Rich dropped his sword and instantly felt the stinging pain. Tai then pulled his blade out as his foe fell to the ground on his knees. Rich clutched his stomach and felt the sharp pains worsen. He closed his eyes as his breathing became shallow and suddenly everything went black. His body fell to the ground and there pools of blood formed around him while Tai began to clean his sword on the grass.

Once Tai was done, he stared at the dead body in the mud. "You knew what was coming. Now that I'm done with you, all I got to do is find that sister of yours and my task is complete." Tai smiled to himself and ran towards the woods.

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The heavy rain turned into a light shower as the flashes of lightning and thunder finally subsided. The forest was dark and silent with trees tall as buildings. All that was heard were the footsteps of a young red-headed girl. Sora cried silently as she ran deeper into the darkened woods. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her and didn't dare to look back. Looking back at the horror would only cause her more pain. She ran with a sword in hand and stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

She looked around her as wet tears began to form once more in her tired eyes. Sora just couldn't believe what had happened. She didn't want it to happen. These new events frightened her. She knew something like this was going to happen, but she didn't think it would be this horrible.She thought about her brother Rich and what he did for her. 'Oh, Rich. I hope he's okay. I know he was trying to protect me, but I could've been there to protect him as well.' Sora shook her head. 'No. He would'nt want me to do that. He wants me to live and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to find a way to make everything right again and return peace to this world.' She thought.

Sora wiped her tears and looked around her once again. She had to admit it, she was lost. She had never been out of her kingdom before. Where was she supposed to go?

"I suppose there is a village ahead of this forest, but I don't even know which way." She said aloud to herself. 'Oh, what am I going to do?'

"Looks like someone is lost." A deep voice said from behind her.

Sora quickly turned around and noticed her follower. She felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest once she caught sight of the brown-haired man. Sora clutched the blade in her hand tighter and held her sword up toward him.

"What'd you do to my brother!" She cried out to the man in front of her. Tai stared at her for a second before he took a step toward her, his sword still in his sheath.

Sora noticed the man getting closer and she became terrified. "I'm warning you, I know how to handle a sword." She said in a shaky voice.

As soon as he was four feet within reach, Sora swung her sword at him. Tai quickly reacted and unsheathed his sword to block her swing. The two blades met and Tai finally had the chance to view her face from up close. She looked so ravishing and almost had the face of an angel. Tai couldn't help it but just stare at her. He wanted to have her. 'No. I have to complete this mission or my master will have my head.' Tai thought.

"You know, you look so beautiful my lady but I'm afraid that's not going to save you. It's such a shame that a woman like you has to go to waste." Tai said as he used his sword to knock out the blade from her hand. Sora watched as her sword flew a good distance away from her and landed on the soil.

Sora glared at the man in front of her. "I'm not afraid of you." She said with a look of boldness.

Tai grinned evilly at her before he shoved her to the ground. Sora fell hard on her back and felt the body of her attacker lie on top of her. He crawled on her and placed his blade at her neck. "So princess, are you afraid of me now?" Tai huskilly spoke. Sora didn't say anything. She was too scared. She looked straight into those brown orbs of his and felt tears form in her eyes. Sora tried closing them to prevent her tears from coming out. However, they still managed to escape. Sora began to quietly sob and wishing her enemy would just kill her already. Living didn't matter to her anymore, she already lost everything.

The young man stared at the girl beneath him and watched as more tears streamed down her face. Tai knew that she was terrified of him. He felt a stinging pain in his chest, in his heart from the girl. The moment she started crying, he felt the need to comfort her. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to let her go. Tai struggled with himself whether he should kill her or not. He looked at her angelic face. She looked so beautiful and innocent. 'Maybe she doesn't deserve this. She just lost her family because of me. I don't like seeing her cry like this. Wait. What's wrong with me? Why do I feel sorry for her? C'mon Tai, just kill her now!'

Tai grasped the sword in his hand even tighter. He looked to her once again and glanced down to her soft pink lips. Tai then loosened his grip on the sword and felt himself lowering his head to place a small, light kiss on those lips before slowly getting off her. He stood up before her and placed his sword back in his sheath. After Sora felt that gentle kiss, she opened her eyes and looked up at the man in question.

"I'm only letting you go this one time. The next time I find you, don't expect any mercy from me." Tai said averting his gaze elsewhere, but her.

Sora got up and slowly walked over to where her blade was lying. She picked up her sword and looked back at the man. "Why are you letting me go?" She asked him.

"Just go before I change my mind!" He screamed at her. Sora, frightened by his reaction, ran further into the forest to get away from him. Tai watched her run deeper until she vanished from his sight. He decided it was time to head back to his troops. As he walked out of the forest, many things bothered him. In his mind, he couldn't help but think why didn't he kill her?

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A/N: There's chapter three. Thanks for the reviews you guys. It really helps. Can't wait till Ch. 4!