Chapter 2: Beginning Of Something New

He couldn't stop remembering the horrified look on her face as she was thrown violently of the ship's deck and into the raging sea that swallowed her whole.

"Princess!"

Her ocean eyes wide and her mouth open forming a scream that would never be heard over the roaring cannon fire. Her hand outstretched, reaching for him to grab her, save her from her watery grave.

Walter had wasted no time in diving in after her and so did her faithful collie named Lucky. But before Ben Finn could dive in along with them, the ship was hurtled in the other direction and within moments he was sinking in the sea and the waves carried him off to an unknown land.

It was when he awoke in the temple that he realised that it was quite possible that the revolution was over. When Kalin spoke to him, about her people only finding him drifting in the bay, Ben Finn struggled to hold onto hope that the Princess and Walter would be found alive.

"What happened here?" He asked bewildered at the state of the city as Kalin led him outside, away from prying eyes in the temple.

"The Crawler did this to us, and no one from Albion saved us. My people are in ruin, we are dying and it seems none of you knew." Her tone was grave and it seemed as if she had not experienced any kind of joy in the last several years.

"What's the Crawler?" Ben asked as his blue eyes took in all the sights around him and thought just how better off Albion was, and none of it's citizens would ever realise it.

When Kalin explained all that the Crawler was and that few survive a direct encounter with it, his hope in the Princess' safety disappeared.

"It's most likely that they were brought ashore near where the Crawler and it's children dwell, if that is true, then there is little chance of them surviving."

Her words haunted Ben Finn and it spurred him in to action. He refused to just stand back and wait to see if they lived or died. It was his duty to protect the Princess, and his thundering heart would not settle until he knew she was safe.

It didn't take much to convince Kalin to let him explore outside the city to search for them and he was utterly surprised when she decided to tag along with him as well. Thankfully they didn't have to go far to find what they were looking for.

Laying face down in the desert sand was a silhouette of a person with long brown hair and a dog sitting next to it. When Ben's eyes rested on the figure he dashed down the broken steps and ran the short distance to reach the unconscious person.

When he turned them over, he released a deep breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. It was the Princess and though she looked in pain and breathing heavily, she had no visible wounds on her. He wasted no time in placing his arms under her and lifting her bridle style close to his chest and carrying her back to the temple. Kalin said nothing as she followed him but a small smile graced the corner of her lips as she saw the soldier look tenderly at the fallen Princess.

She stirred when he reach the top of the steps and her eyes flew open and stared up at him before looking out at the desert .

"Walter..." She struggled to get out before her rolled shut again.

Ben Finn turned to look back at Kalin who was already gazing at a small structure in the distance.

"Take her to the temple. I will assemble a search party." She spoke and turned to walk straight past him back into her ruined city.

He wasn't going to argue with her, after all he knew that the Princess was more important than Walter, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

When he reached the temple, the priests ushered him to place the unconscious Princess down in a separate alcove. He stood back and kept an eye on those tending to her just in case they tried anything inappropriate to her in her vulnerable state.

As he watched over, Ben couldn't help but feel responsible for the Princess' current condition. After all if he'd just managed to reach her in time then she wouldn't have been launched off the ship and she would've ended up in the bay with him instead of having to face the threat of the Crawler.

'I don't know what I would do if we lost her. The rebellion needs her'

His eyes widened in shock as realisation dawned on him. He didn't know anything about the Princess, he hadn't tried to get to know her since they first met. Heck he didn't even know her name for Avo's sake! How awful he's been treating her, as if she's just a thing to use to overthrow Logan, why didn't he ever see her for who she is rather than what she is?

It was no wonder she only really spoke to Walter about anything. His heart clenched as he thought about how she must've felt this entire time. Knowing that everyone around doesn't really care about you, just so long as they can achieve their own goals for a better kingdom. He wasn't sure if she even wanted to be Queen! How wrong was that if she took the crown and was only doing it for the greater good? The rest of her life will never truly belong to her anymore. Could she even marry out of love? Or would she simply have to do it to ensure that there was an heir to the throne?

Ben didn't know why all these thoughts started running through his head or even the bigger question of why were they triggered when he saw her in that vulnerable state? He didn't care what the reasons were for his epiphany, but he vowed that when the Princess regained consciousness he was going to get to know her and become a friend who truly cared about her.

A/N: Sorry about the wait. Hope you all liked this chapter!