The images of her dying friend ran wild through her mind. Her eyes snapped open and she let out a stifled cry. What happened? She thought to herself. Where am I? No longer in her cell. She was free, in the woods near a burnt out fire. Had her rescuer come after her after all? Dazed, she stood, surveying her surroundings.

Then she felt something nudge her back gently, and she turned, expecting it to be her rescuer. She yelped in shock and fell over, scraping her arm. A massive creature, with green and white fur now stood before, coming even closer to her. "Stay back!" She yelled hopelessly at the monster. She grabbed a stick from near the old fire and brandished it at the poor creature. He whined profusely, backing away, but his tail was wagging at the sight of the stick. She realized his intense stare at the stick and yelled, "Fetch, boy". It ran off with amazing speed in the direction of the stick. That was her cue.

She ran in the opposite direction, hoping to lose the creature, but somehow it appeared in front of her, tail wagging with the stick in its mouth. He barked and dropped the stick in front of her. She eyed it curiously and muttered, "What are you supposed to be, a dog? You're one strange-looking dog."

She sighed, grabbed the stick and turned around as if to throw it, but found herself running into a tall, red-haired man with a sword at his belt. "Aahhh!" She shrieked as the both of them tumbled down the small hill. "Oh, sorry." She groaned. Laying on top of him awkwardly, she rose quickly. He was silent, and nodded in her direction, turning his face away but not before Anna caught the glimpse of a blush on his face. She laughed.

He turned to her now, somewhat irritated, and stated. "It hasn't even been a day yet and you managed to injure me twice." He pointed accusingly at his black eye. She could only grin in response though. She'd thought that she was still being attacked by that Desian, not rescued. "Come on, now, we need to hurry." He frowned at her and stated matter-of-factly. "I do not need you slowing me down as it is." He scoffed, "Women and children should not be in these parts of the woods. Now, what is your name?"

Anna gaped at him, shocked at his annoying arrogance. She sighed in disappointment that her "knight" was not at all what she imagined. He infuriated her. She walked towards and leveled his stare. "Humph. Give me your name and I'll give you mine" She spat back at him defiantly. She did not trust this man and doubted that he rescued her out of the pure goodness of his heart.

His eyes glinted with amusement and he simply replied, "Very well, I am Kratos Aurion. I am a mercenary who was hired to free prisoners from the Asgard Ranch. Now, your name, Miss-."

She hesitated but continued cautiously, "I'm Anna. Anna Irving."

Kratos cleared his throat before saying, "We'll need to stop in Luin before continuing on. Come, let us leave now before the Desians find us." He turned quickly.

"What do you mean, we?" She retorted, eyes hard. "I'm free. Can't I do as I wish? And besides, why would we need to continue beyond Luin" She held her head up as high as she could, staring into his empty, bored eyes. Her pride was still hurt by his earlier comment.

"Well, if you wish to live," He clenched his teeth, "then I suggest that you follow me. That exsphere on your chest there is unstable. You'll need a key crest and you certainly will not be able to find one without my assistance." He stood irritated at the lost time.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. Why did he always have to be right? They started walking but suddenly she froze and frowned. "Wait, How did you know all that?" An awful realization struck her, eyes filling with fear. Suddenly, she jumped back and hissed, "You're a Desian, aren't you?"

She gave him a long, cold glare, but he only sighed and responded, "No, I am not a Desian. It's a-" he paused, unsure what to say then continued, "It's a long story. I'll explain one day, but not now."

"Wait, so you expect me to just trust you?" She hardened her stare.

"If you want to live." He shrugged and started to walk on.

She stared after him for a moment but followed."Damn it." She whispered to herself and groaned. He had the advantage, and they were stuck with each other. He was nothing like she imagined though. He and the fantasy of her rescuer were like night and day.

Soon, though Anna's attention turned away from Kratos and she began to revel in the fact that she was free. The sun, the wind, the fresh streams: they were real and Anna giggled as she pranced through the forest, free at last.

Kratos gave her a hard glare. "Stop being so childish" he chided, " We need to focus on this journey." Anna angrily shoved him but quickly turned her attention to another novelty.

She muttered, "Honestly you need to learn how to have fun." Kratos only looked on indifferently as Anna began playing Noishe. She cooed softly, "Yes, Kratos doesn't play with you at all, does he? He's just a boring, arrogant stick-in-the mud." She was near shouting, but Kratos only sighed, thinking to himself, how did I get stuck with her?

They were nearing Luin and Anna gasped at the beauty of being able to see town again. She marveled at the buildings, the people, the music, the laugher. It filled her with unbelievable joy. She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around to face Kratos. "We should get you some new clothes, so you blend in easier." He suggested lightly. She nodded in consent and they walked on together. Eventually they came upon a small clothing store near the middle of town and stopped to look. "Go on." He stood on the side watching the town, while Anna looked through the clothes.

Finally, a woman came out of the building and smiled politely, "Oh, can I help you?"

"Yes, can I see that one?" Anna tried on the deep red, long-sleeve dress that clung narrowly to her body and stopped above the knees. "What do you think, Kratos?" She grinned wildy.

He glanced briefly at her and said with a bored tone, "It'll do." Anna frowned and gave him an irritated look, and suddenly the storekeeper laughed.

"Oh, it looks just wonderful on you, dear!" She smiled with a matronly air. "Don't worry about a thing your husband says! Mine does the same!"

Kratos snorted with derision at the same time Anna burst into uncontrollable laughter. Tearing up at the eyes, Anna explained to the woman, "Oh, no! I'm afraid you're mixed up! We're not-...He's not-" But Anna could not go one without laughing even more. The shopkeeper's eyes widened at her mistake and she laughed as well.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That'll be 100 gald though." Kratos quickly gave her a few coins and left with a Anna, amusement dancing in her eyes. The old woman sighed and shook her head, "What a shame, though...they really looked like a couple." She retreated inside.