Kayle acted shaken-up about the incident, like a normal woman would. Her and Malin's mothers were freaking out over the whole skinned human deal, while the fathers were checking to make sure all the guards were still alive, for it could be just a simple peasant. It wasn't everyday you'd see something like that. Sure, there were public executions, cutting of someone's head or whatever; but cutting off all their skin so flawless like that? Not something a regular person could do.

Kayle's parents decided to call it a day and head home, saying Malin's parents could think of the rest of the wedding plans. That made her more than happy, though, seeing as she got away from the talkative Prince. She really didn't like him, if it wasn't clear already.

"Father, I don't want to marry him, I hope you know..." Kayle softly spoke as they stepped out of the carriage. Her father boomed with laughed, patting her on the back lightly.

"Nonsense! He's the only Prince around that we found suited for you. He'll be fine. You really just have to-"

"-Give him a shot, I know, I know. I just really don't want to. He's selfish, and all he talks about is how great he is... I know, a Princess is suppose to marry a Prince... But... he's not the one for me.."

"Kayle! I've had enough of this." her father roared, turning to her, "You are going to marry Prince Malin, or so help me Gods!" he narrowed his eyes at her dangerously, "Go to your room. You will stay there until the wedding is set-up. Understand!?"

"Fine!" Kayle yelled, tossing off her heels before running to her room, being sure to pick up her dress so she didn't trip on it as she ran. She slammed the door behind her, placing her back up against it as she sank to the floor, bringing her knees to her chest as she hid her face in her lap.

Crash!

She jolted, hearing something clatter to the floor. She quickly looked up, standing. Her jewel case had fallen to the floor, beads rolling around. Then, there, a shimmer of light moved. She squinted, trying to get a better look at whatever was in her room.

Two twin flashes of light appeared then vanished. She saw it bolt, open the doors to the balcony and jump off the railing. She quickly ran to the balcony once her feet managed to become unglued from place, looking over the edge for whatever it was that was inside of her room. Nothing. She had forgotten to lock the doors to the balcony when she left earlier that day, that must have been how it got in.

She quickly retreated back into the safety of her room, shutting the twin doors. She looked towards her desk, leaning over to pick up the beads and necklaces that has fallen to the floor from the box that had been knocked over. She placed the slightly broken box onto the desk, looking to see if anything had been taken.

Everything seemed accounted for.

Actually, no. Something was missing. It was her bone-like necklace that had the strangest of symbols etched into some of the bones and colourful beads. Her grandfather had found it while out enjoying the view of the wilderness. He said it was hanging on a tree limb, like someone had thrown it up there or something. He managed to get it down, and he wasn't sure what to do with it.

Her mother had a fit on her eighteenth birthday when her grandfather gave it to her, about how bones were nasty things and that she shouldn't be wearing it around her neck for it made her look like a ruffian. Honestly, Kayle liked the sound of it. She wasn't really the Princess type anyway.

She sighed as she sat down, looking out to the sky through the window panes in the doors. She'd wait till nightfall, then, she'd run away. She wasn't planning on getting married, no matter how much her father yelled at her. She was going to do her own thing.

Kayle sat for hours on end in her bedroom, every ten minutes checking to see where the sun was at in the sky, wishing and begging for it to go down quicker. She threw off the dress she had been wearing, throwing on her favourite blue dress. She decided to tie-up her long hair with a golden bow, trying to make it as short as she could, she didn't want it to get hung-up on any branches.

A servant brought her her dinner, seeing as she wasn't allowed out at dinner time. Cooked meat, bread, and a cup of water. She looked out the windows once again, seeing the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon. Perfect. She quickly ate what had been brought to her, handing the servant her plate then swatting him off.

She had to think of a plan, now that it was dark enough, to sneak out of the castle. Her parents usually fell asleep when the moon was at it's highest, but she really didn't want to wait that long. She looked to her bed sheets, quickly removing each and every one, even grabbing the pillow cases. She began to tie them all together as quickly as she could, testing them once she had finished to make sure they'd all stay together nice and tight.

She let out a soft sigh, putting on a pair of comfortable slippers before she tip-toed out onto the balcony, wrapping one of the ends to the railing while throwing the other off. It was long enough, thankfully. She lived on the second story, so she had to be just perfect with length, maybe a bit longer.

Kayle gulped, swinging herself onto the other side as she grabbed the make-shift rope, slowly climbing down to the ground. She set her feet down on the grassy earth, making sure she was fully there before releasing the rope. She looked up at the castle as she backed up, giving a small grin. "Not going to order me to marry anyone now." she giggled softly, picking up her dress as she ran into the forest.

Okay, so, maybe going at night wasn't the best plan, especially without a lantern. As the sun went down lower and lower by the second, the darkness began to creep and entangle Kayle, causing some tree limbs to look scarier than they should have. She kept her best eye out for anything that could help.

After five minutes of walking, a small fire came into view and she let out a relieved sigh, running towards the sight. She stopped behind a tree, looking around the camp for any signs of life. And just as she thought it was clear, something grabbed her arm, a hand coming up to her mouth to stifle her scream.

Bandits! Three of them, at that.

"Well well well, what have we here?" the one holding her spoke up, grinning devilishly.

"Looks like the Princess." another spoke from behind him.

"How much do you think we could get for her?" the third laughed.

Kayle wiggled, trying to free herself from his grasp. No good, he was way too big and strong for her. She whimpered as they dragged her fully into the camp, tieing-up her hands and legs so she couldn't get away, and also putting a gag in her mouth so she wouldn't make any noise to alert anyone.

"Again, how much do you think we can get for her?" the scrawny male asked, grabbing a rock as he pulled out a dagger, sharpening it.

"I dunno. But, I'd imagine it'd be a pretty god price, since Princess' are hard to catch." the stronger out of the three spoke up, grinning.

Kayle whimpered again, feeling her stomach tie-up in knots. What the hell was wrong with these guys? They'd burn in Hades' fire for all eternity for sure. She looked up to the sky, praying to the Gods for a savior, any kind would be the better. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she struggled, trying to get free. Nothing.

"Oi! Don't try anything over there, ya hear!?" one of them shouted at her.

Her beautiful dress was getting covered in grass and earth stains with all her wiggling. She felt like a caterpillar, honestly. She stopped moving once she heard something snap. A twig, not that far away from her. The bandits didn't seem to notice it at all.

A strange cackling came out of nowhere, and as she slowly turned to look at the being, it crouched down next to her, placing a finger against his expressionless mask as if to tell her to be silent.

His hair was something she'd never seen before, not being in strands like her own, but more like tubes, and his skin was lizard-ques, being lighter on the stomach before molting into a darker colour on his back. His choice in armor was different than that of the regular knight, the only things looking armor related were the shoulder pads, the wrist gauntlets, leg armor, and whatever was attached to his back that had the smallest cannon she'd ever seen attached to it, the rest of his body was protected by a tight netting. The scariest thing about him though, was the skulls he wore around his neck like some wicked necklace. They were large and looked to be of exotic animals.

He let out a growl, causing all the bandits to look towards him, quickly standing as they hurried to their weapons. One holding a bow, another a sword, and the other with his silly dagger. Blades suddenly shot out of the wrist gauntlets the being was wearing as he approached the three, his back arching as he got closer, looking to see who was going to make the first move.

He was tall, taller than all of the bandits, even the stronger one. Kayle didn't know who he was, nor what he was doing here, but she hoped he didn't get hurt.

The larger bandit yelled and lunged at him, swinging his sword. It almost seemed to easy for him, for he just brought up his arm, the ridged blades colliding with the long sword. He growled, his other hand coming up as he drove the blades into the male's chest, ripping out to the side, watching him fall to the ground limply.

The other bandits became frightened, the one holding the bow frozen in fear. A red light appeared out of the being's mask, the three dots slowly moving up from the bandit's chest to his forehead.

Kayle couldn't believe her eyes, what she saw was unreal. A blast of blue energy shot from the small cannon on the being's shoulder, causing the archer bandit's head to explode into pieces. He looked towards the third and last bandit, taking long strides towards him. In a matter of seconds, he stood before him, staring down at the cowerding human.

She wasn't sure what he was going to do, all she knew was, he was her savior from the sky, the Gods had heard her prayers and gave her this strange mythological-like being. She heard a scream, then a struggling for breath. The creature was holding up the bandit by the throat, high above the ground, his legs kicked and he tried to free himself.

Kayle managed to spit out the gag, coughing a few times, catching his attention. He growled, throwing the bandit to the ground, the cannon charging up before a blast of white-blue light took the male's head clean off, leaving nothing of it.

Fear began to take hold of Kayle's body as he walked towards her, head cocking back and forth. She wiggled, trying to get away, but he placed his foot lightly on her side, rolling her onto her back so she was staring up at him.

Her eyes widened as he knelt down, staring at her face. Her heart began to pound up against her chest. Maybe he wasn't quite the savior, maybe he was going to kill her. She closed her eyes, waiting.

Nothing.

She blinked, then the next thing she knew, she was freed from her bindings and she was thrown over his large shoulder. She wiggled, lightly hitting his back with a fist.

"P...Put me down! P-put me down I say!"