"WHAT THE SH*T?"

Without sparing a second ,I raised a rock platform from right under the body of the carriage , successfully causing the guy holding the reins to fall off . I kept the platform close enough to the ground so that the horses don't suffocate . Unfortunately , that raised the dacoit to my level and seeing me , he shot a blast of fire at me which I quickly blocked with an earth-shield . The force of the blast pushed me back into the trees , one of which , cracked under the impact of my back. And just my luck , turns out the one that fell off was a fu-jutsu artist . I quickly ran into the trees , dodging wind-blades .

"YA SHOULDN'T HA MESSED WIT US ,KID . "

You're telling me this now?

I flipped backwards between two trees and raised a boulder from the ground as I flipped to my feet and kicked it straight at the source of the wind blades . Next thing he knows . He's knocked out of the sky by a boulder that's shot straight out of the trees .

'One down , two to go , uh oh!'

I thought ,hidden by the trees as flames began to appear in front of me .

"I'LL TEACH YA TA PLAY HERO , BRAT."

Aw, thanks , but my dad already did .

I formed a fist ,covered it with rock and ran straight to the flames and jumped and climbed a tree nearest to the fire . The smoke hid me well and I held my breath . Once I reached a branch hanging over the fire , I locked onto my target , ...and jumped .

He caught sight of me and threw a blast of flames at me , but pushing my fist forward , I cut through his flames and hit him straight in the nose , a satisfying crunch was heard as his head recoiled . I placed my other hand on the ground and summersaulted over him as he fell .

But when I landed , I felt the ground cover my feet , trapping me.

'One to go , this is gonna be fun.'

"Ya got a lot a nerve , brat ..."

He's calm,... sober and is a gen-jutsu artist like me. Got to be careful .

I quickly removed the ground trapping me and turned to face him . He was standing on a small pillar with just enough room for him to stand . The carriage was back on the ground . I gotta be careful . Gotta make sure the kid's okay .

"...you might be useful."

I blinked . What?...

"What?"

...was my wonderful reply .Man! I should have added '...the heck?' Yeah, that would have been much better .

The big guy sighed ...

"What a waste!"

...And pulled out a gun. Sh*t.

I didn't waste a second . I kicked the ground , sending the platform he was standing on straight back into the ground , taking him with it . He seemed surprised but quickly recovered and placed his hands on the ground pulling himself out and flipping over , he pulled out his gun and took aim . I jumped back and trusting the earth , I raised the section which I thought he was standing on high above the air .

I was right . He was startled but my confidence was boosted .

He kept reaching for his gun instead of fighting me head on , I overpowered his trap and his platform with little struggle and he didn't undo my road block and leave ...meaning he's not as strong as me when it comes to gen-jutsu .

Thank you , daddy.

Once he was in the air , he fell onto the platform, dropping the gun and taking that chance , I trapped his hands and feet to the ground . I could feel him trying to overpower my control , but I was stronger , almost as strong as an top ex-soldier . I formed a tight cocoon around his body and waited .

His struggles grew weaker , weaker ...and stopped .

I opened the cocoon and his unconscious body lay slumped on the ground . I quickly took his gun and unloaded the bullets . Urgh ...I hate guns .

The kid!

I ran to carriage and opened the door to see ...woah , she was not a kid .

She had black hair was slumped on the cold floor , sleeping . Her body was covered with cuts and bruises which were visible due to her clothing . She was wearing shorts and a vest , which was ripped in the middle revealing her waist and a prominent cut on it . I felt anger rise inside my chest .How could someone do this to a girl?

I looked up to see the sun beginning to will start getting cold soon .I removed my shirt and put it over her . She didn't stir , so I placed my ear to her chest and listened .

'lub dub, lub dub.'

Okay good . I moved my fingers to her wrist . Pulse was steady too . Taking a deep breath and letting it out , I took her into my arms and left for the village . She's heavier than she looked and I suspected it was muscle . As the sun's light began to fade , I looked down to see her face . Her eyes were closed , her lips were parted and her hair was a mess .

Wow , if she looked this gorgeous now , she must be a knockout when she actually awake .

I realised I was staring too much and shook my head before I continued walking . Feeling a bit off , I looked down again and my eyes widened .

She was awake , barely , but still ...and she was looking at him .

Her eyes were partially open and unfocused , but the way she was looking at him made him catch his breath . Giving the best reassuring smile he could manage , he softly whispered .

"Don't worry ,...you're safe now ."

A small smile formed on her lips with a hint of a blush on her cheeks before her eyes fluttered shut .

...and I breathed again .

Dozens of girls , beautiful girls have flirted with me and me with them . So why does did girl have this effect on me ? Who is she ?

Seraphinah never believed in fairy tales . But that didn't stop her from wishing her prince charming would come and protect her from the world , ...would save her . In the palace , she had to watch her every move . Everyone would watch her , judge her , tell her what to do ...and she would listen , but it was never enough . Her uncle had come to her as she was training and offered her a drink . She thought he looked at her with more expectation than usual and bit down the annoyance at the fact that he had distracted her enough to get a cut on her waist before she ended the beast . Her father would definitely reprimand her and her mother would probably complain about the torn vest. To help keep herself from yelling at him , which was very hard sonce she was at the peak of her training and her emotions were heightened , she took the cup and drank it .

It had a pleasant numbing effect on her body before it began to numb her vision ...her mind.

She felt lightheaded as three men climbed over the wall and began to walk towards her . She felt betrayed but a part of her expected it . And as the world turned black , she wondered how she would be when she woke up .

.

.

She felt lightheaded .

Her eyes were heavy.

The voice in her head , the part of her that expected the betrayal demanded that she woke up and faced whatever was happening . But she didn't expect to feel herself being firmly held by strong arms . Were they carrying her somewhere ? She felt so ...protected . No , she had to wake up . It was just an illusion of safety . She strained to open her eyes , fighting against the brightness .

She expected a big man , not a young boy .

She expected a rough face with hard eyes, not a smooth one with bright green eyes.

But of course , she expected to feel scared , not...she felt...

He looked down at her and his eyes widened ,panicking a bit before softening and a reassuring smile formed on his face .

"Don't worry ,...you're safe now."

...she felt safe ...and it scared her . But her body was too weak to be afraid and she let the feeling of safety lull her back to rest .