First, thank you to Amefloza13, Guest, and pinksakura271 for your reviews. To Amefloza13, I don't know Spanish, but I have a translator app so thank you and the adventure has just begun! X3 pinksakura271, you definitely have a good eye on the story so far. But who knows what's gonna happen in later chapters? ;3

Chapter 3. First Night of Terror

Amy jogged several feet past the opened gates with her bodyguard following behind her, a few feet at most. She was head strong about this journey of hers after the queen had helped her build up the courage she needed for the mission. It was going to be a tough battle for both Amy and Shadow, but with the knowledge they have, they might be able to get through just fine at the most. Once Amy had walked right through the gates, she noticed how amazingly open the land outside was. All covered in green trees and grass with a few flower patches here and there, and a wide open world for them to explore. She certainly admired the look of the open valley and how amazed she was just by looking from left and right to see many open lands and possible villages to find.

"How amazing! From you guys said about the world in danger, it doesn't look so bad at all!" Amy pointed out now turning around to face Shadow, who was still making his way over to her after she had jogged a little ways away from him.

He was still wearing his knight uniform, but had a brown pack wrapped around his shoulders full of supplies and food they'll need. Along with his sword he held on his waist. "It seems that way, but it will not be as beautiful if Scourge succeeds." he said now able to get a little close enough so he could stand beside her to see the wide open world before him, "We'll have to be fast in order to find the six elements. Do you have the Stone of Ages?" he turned to Amy before asking.

She moved one hand to her neck and lifted up the same pendant that she had received from under her shirt. She held it up and smiled. "Madam Vulga told me to always have it hidden away, but never to take it off. It's what we need to find them after all." she clarified.

(Earlier)

Once both Lida and Amy returned back to the bedroom, both Madam Vulga and Aldar were still in there along with Shadow, who had returned before they had left the painted room. A maid was in the room with them holding Amy's clothes she had worn before, now clean and ready for her to wear again. The old crow looked over to the door to see them coming back in. "Miss Amy...I see you have calmed down." she spoke up first.

Amy held her head down not knowing what to say to her. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder making her look up at Lida. She gave her a reassuring smile and a small nod. Amy turned back to Madam Vulga and nodded. "Yeah...I'm sorry. And...I'm ready to know what to do so I can find those people." she said with her head held high.

Aldar nodded and held up a rolled up paper for her to see. "This is the map of our world. Our land has been marked so you know where we are. Madam Vulga has marked the places where you and Sir Shadow will find the chosen elements." once he instructed her, he turned back to Shadow and held the rolled up map to him. He took it from his hands and stuffed it in a brown satchel that he had brought with him on the way back, "Shadow has everything you both need. Food, water, and medical supplies."

"Alright...thank you." Amy said meekly.

Madam Vulga made her way over to her holding the necklace in her hand as she stopped right in front of her. "Only you have the ability to find the chosen people." she started now holding the necklace towards her to take. Amy did so and held the pendant carefully in both hands, "This pendant is a very special one called the Stone of Ages. The same stone that had been used by the legendary hero from long ago. Once you are close to the one who uses one of the elements, it will shine a bright color symbolizing what element they will be granted. Spiritual words will appear only for you to see and read. Once you say those words, the power of that element will rise out from the stone and into the chosen one."

Amy listened very closely so she wouldn't forget anything. She wrapped the necklace around her neck and held the pendant while Madam Vulga explained to her. She had also instructed Shadow before they returned to the room so he already knew what her task was, but for him to watch and protect her when they find the chosen ones. Once she was finished, Amy slowly nodded, still unsure and worried about this whole thing, but still did her best to show that she was ready. "I will not fail you guys." she said with determination in her voice.

"Very good. Now, remember to always hide that stone. Many people had been looking for this precious jewel ever since the hero had banished the demon king and hidden the stone from the world. Never, ever let it off your neck and always hide it from others except Sir Shadow and the six others."

"Is it really that special...? How were you the one to have it if everyone had been looking high and low for it?"

Madam Vulga only gave her a satisfying smile. "That is something you will find out sometime in the future, miss Amy." she noted before turning away from her and pointed her cane towards the maid that was still holding her normal clothes, "His majesty had asked for your garments to be cleaned and ready for you."

Amy breathed a happy relief since she wasn't okay with wearing what she had on. Sure her nightgown looked nice to sleep in and quite pretty, she still preferred to be in clothes that fit her more better. Moving around the old crow, she walked over to the maid and took the neatly, folded pile from her hands, then turned around to face the three. "Anything else we should know about?" she asked. The old crow nodded with a very serious look in her eyes as she stares directly into both Amy's and Shadow's eyes.

"Just one. Make sure that you do not let your fears take over. King Scourge might be able to find and try to trick you into doing awful things by manipulating you're sanity. Never let your anger rise for he will be able to control you easily."

"You think Scourge can easily control your mind if he gets into your head?" Amy asked while stuffing the pendant back into her shirt.

Shadow nodded slowly. "I've seen it happy a few times.. Anyone who has had a great deal of anger, or sadness, he can easily take control of it and turn you crazy. Enough for you to just attack without question." he answered and looked back to the large plot of land, "I have done my hardest to not show any sort of emotion so he wouldn't try to control me."

"...You had something horrible that happened to you before. Didn't you?" Amy asked.

"...Let's go. The first element will be many miles from here, possibly a two day walk. I know where the castle ruins are so I don't need the map for this." With that, he started his way down the dirt path that lead to the gate of the town. Amy watched him for a few seconds to register what had just happened. From how he didn't answer her to just skipping it entirely made her believe that something bad did happened to him. She decided to keep it to herself so she wouldn't cause a fight with him as she quickly kicked off a heel jogging over to him.

"Hey..I'm not from here, so maybe you can tell me about this place. The castle ruins I mean." Amy asked wanting to have a different topic to talk about.

Shadow rolled his eyes seeing that a quiet journey might not happen if she will be asking some questions. "There used to be a large castle that the old king of Celedane once lived. It used to be a strong building that can handle the toughest of fights. But Agrid was able to kill the king wanting to take over what used to be a thriving city along with the castle. That was when the hero rose up and vanquished the demon king."

Listening closely, she took in everything that he said wanting to know more and more about this demon king and how the hero was able to seal the evil being away. "Without a king, how were they able to go on?" she asked.

"The king had a son who was able to fight along side his father. After the king was killed, he was able to take the last living citizens to another place to call home. And that is where the castle and town is now." Shadow answered, "No one went back so they left the place to rot. Over two decades, the place is now condemned. Few had went to only search for things to sell in the market."

"...So why is it that we are going to the castle ruins when clearly, no one lives there? Isn't it kinda..weird?" Amy asked.

Shadow looked back to her with a serious look. "After Scourge took control of the demon's powers and before he attacked the castle, he took several innocent people from their homes and enslaved them in either his fortress, or somewhere around the world. Which is why we are looking for them right now." he answered in a serious tone.

Amy held her hand over her mouth hearing how this evil tyrant had taken so many people away from their homes and killed many others while he invaded the castle and castle town. "That's horrible.. So the six are those he had hidden away..because he knew who they were, or the abilities they'll receive?" she asked.

"That's the thing. We don't know if he knew about their ancestors' pasts. All Madam Vulga had told us before you have come to our world is that he had taken several people and hidden them away so no one could ever find them."

Looking down at the path they were taking, she started to think of how long they have been enslaved in their cages of some sort. Where they even alive? If they weren't, then what's the point in finding them to begin with? Amy gripped the pendant tightly in her hand while clutching her shirt along with it. "Shadow...what if we don't find them? What if we fail..?" she asked in a frightened tone.

Stopping abruptly, he held out his hand to her shoulder to stop her from walking after he gripped it tightly. She looked up from the ground back to him, showing her fears were beginning to come back after she had tried to be brave for him and those back home. "It'll be fine, Rose. I'm very skilled in swordsmanship, and many others. I'll protect you and help you find the chosen six. Understand?" he encouraged hoping what he said could at least lift her spirits up a bit.

It kinda did. Amy was a little worried, but there was another feeling she felt once he called her by her last name. The way he said it sounded a little comforting to the frail girl. "...Did you just call me 'Rose'?" she asked while feeling a little bit of a blush form on her cheeks.

Shadow took his hand off without showing any sort of emotion towards her. "Yes, I did. Is there a problem with it?" he asked. Amy quickly shook her head.

"No, no! It's okay! I just...well...it sounded nice when you said my last name." she smiled a bit feeling a little embarrassed.

He still held no emotion, but he did turn his head away after she said that last sentence. No blush was seen on his face, but Amy could tell he was trying to hide himself from her. "I sometimes address those by their last name. It's something I grew accustomed to in my home town before I moved here." he confessed.

"I see. So your not from around that sort of place either?" Amy asked feeling her smile grow a bit more now seeing a new topic to ask about, "So where is your home? Is it far from here? Were you a knight there, too? Or were you here to be a knight? How long did you stay here?" Shadow emitted a low and annoyed growl realizing what he had put himself into. This was going to be a long, long, LONG journey.

It certainly was along one from the start. Amy continued to pester Shadow about some things about him, the world he lived in, etc. Shadow wasn't too happy that she kept on asking some questions that were more hard to answer. He kept giving her one sentence answers hoping that it would shut her up, but she kept on going. This girl was a very huge pain in the ass, but he made an oath to his king and queen that he'll remain at her side to help her with this journey. If Amy had any sort of fighting abilities, he would've been long gone by now and let her do the fighting if they get into. He did wonder how she could stand in a fight if he wasn't around. Probably as poor as a blind man trying to fight a goat.

The landscape was an awe struck for many who never lived in the country side. It almost looked as if it would be in a landscaping calendar. There were mountains as tall as either Mount Fuji, or Mount Everest all around with smaller mountains and hills full of trees to make big and smaller forests. The path the two travelers were taking had lead them through the open plains without any sort of hardship for them. There were a few birds chirping around the air, along with a couple smaller creatures lurking around to find food for them. It was very peaceful to be out and just lie on the grass, or flower bed to relax. You never see this sort of thing unless you're living outside of the city limits.

All afternoon, Shadow and Amy had continued their walk through the open lands till the path had lead them to one of the many forests that they'll be going through on their journey. Amy wasn't worried in the slightest since she really liked being surrounded by trees sometimes. She liked how they would hide her from the outside world, not to mention how she adored to have a small tree house for her to live in a deep forest. It was also very pretty to be around the trees that with orange and yellow leaves making it look like she was in a fairy tale forest. Shadow, however, wasn't feeling happy about going into the forest. Unbeknownst to the other world girl, he knew the dangers that lie between the trees and bushes. Many monsters had infested the lands and had made their homes in different parts of the world. Forests are their favorite places to hide.

Much to his dismay that they couldn't walk around the large patch of trees, Amy was persistent on going in, not even realizing the danger that they might be in. Shadow had to endure her talk of persuasion since there wasn't anything that could make her want to leave and go around it. It would actually take a lot longer if they did, so going through is their best yet. After they finally entered, Amy was feeling happy to be surrounded by trees again, not even caring at all of what Shadow was doing. He was busy surveying the area in case he need to pull his sword out to fight. Most monsters wouldn't attack unless their provoked, but it didn't stop him from worrying about their saftey. He kept his hand securely on the handle of his sword in case he needed to pull it out in seconds.

For a long while of walking, talking, and annoying the hell out of knight with her twenty questions, Shadow had finally told Amy to stop for the night since it was getting dark and the night in his world is pretty dangerous to continue on. It also didn't help that they were getting further and further into the darkened forest since the monsters would come out at night to hunt. She didn't argue with that. She was already getting tired from their hike, and it did look like the forest was getting very dark in seconds. Shadow, on the way to find a spot to rest up, gathered up some broken pieces of wood on the trail to make a fire for them. He had a pretty good amount of small branches and tiny twigs to use. Amy wanted to help, but he turned down her request since he had a whole armful as it is. It didn't bother her as much, but she felt a little sad that he wasn't letting her help him. Was he always this stingy with people helping him?

Luckily, they had a little bit of light from the sunset to give them some time to search for a place to camp. Amy took a few steps further to see if she could find an open area to stop and rest while Shadow was still holding the large pile that kept him from going a steady pace. A few steps further was able to make her stop abruptly, making the knight stop himself so he didn't collide into her. "What is it?" he asked feeling a bit frustrated that she stopped in front of him.

She turned her head back and forth while ignoring his question. She could swear that she was hearing the sounds of water splashing. She turned around to face him. "Shadow...I hear water. Can you?" she asked.

He was a bit confused at first, but taking a second to twitch his ears back and forth to listen, he did hear the sounds of water himself. "I do.. It there might be a pond, or river that goes through the forest." he pointed out.

"Maybe that could be a good place to rest up for the night. What do you think?" Amy pondered.

Shadow had to think about that for a bit. Sure it would be good to sleep by a river in case they needed some water to drink, but it might also be a bad thing considering that dangerous animals could go to the river, or lake to drink, but see them and think their a threat. "...I'm not sure. We'll need to find somewhere else to rest." he answered.

Amy sighed heavily. "Come on..! What's the harm in camping out near a lake, or river? Besides, it's getting dark and there are not a lot of large areas to rest up unless you wanna climb a tree?" she smiled knowing that he couldn't fight with that.

And she was right. He really hated how she kept telling him that there are better ways than doing the possible safety pick. He sighed angrily and answered. "Fine.. But let's find a place close to the waters where any sort of danger won't come and find us."

She nodded happily and turned around to start walking again. Shadow groaned to himself while walking behind her, making sure to stay close to her just in case. The sounds started to get a bit louder and louder with each step they take until they finally reached their end as they stepped through a couple more trees. There in front of them was a wide open river with two sides open that might've gone through in and out of the forest. It seemed pretty long from one side to the other, which they needed to get to. And it looked pretty shallow so it was easy to move across. The sound of rushing water was soothing to hear and it seemed that no monsters were around, so Shadow didn't need to worry about anything. For now.

He finally stopped several feet from the edge of the river, and sat the pile of wood down on the ground while Amy made her way over to sit beside him and watch his hands work. No words needed since she wanted to watch without annoying him questions again. Shadow placed a few sticks in a small pile, then added some larger ones around it making it a circle shape. Once he was finished, he took one of the more thicker pieces of wood and placed it in the middle. Then grabbed a straight stick he could find and placed it on the middle of the thick wood.

He began to rub his hands back and forth very fast. Amy didn't know why he was doing that and wondered how his hands might feel after he was finished. She always had to use a lighter, or something when she needed to make a fire on a grill. Rubbing a stick on another piece of wood didn't seem possible to her. But, to her surprise, she noticed that with the way he was rubbing the end of the stick so much and fast, it started to get so hot that smoke began to slowly come out from the small hole he was making. Soon enough, a small flame began to appear, much to her amazement. Shadow moved the stick away, then leaned down so he was a bit closer to the burnt part of the wood, and began to lightly blow on it making the flame grow more and more with each breath he uses. In a matter of minutes, a small fire started to form making the black knight move away in time.

"Alright...that should help last the entire night.." he said while panting a bit from a lack of breath.

Amy was still amazed at how he was able to make fire from just two different pairs of sticks. "No way...! That's amazing!" she awed now looking away from the fire up to him, "I didn't know you could do that with those sticks! Where I come from, you use a lighter."

Shadow stared at her confused. "A...lighter...?" he asked. She quickly backtracked and started to explain.

"Well..it comes in different sizes and designs. Its a small little capsule full of some fire fluid, or whatever they put in. You have to use your thumb in order to create the fire by flicking a small lever on the top. Other ones, you just push a small button with your thumb and use your finger to press the trigger so the flame comes out."

He continued to stare at her while she talked. She had tried to make hand gestures of what you do with one lighter, then the other. But he was still not getting what she was talking about. "...Right.." She sighed knowing how much describing she might have to do for some other worldly things.

"Never mind...I'm jus surprised your able to make fire like that." He shrugged his shoulders, then moved back further from the fire pit and sat down with his legs crossed.

"It's not that easy to do. It took a while for me to get it to work. But if I had a fire crystal, I'd be able to make fire easily."

Her eyes widened at the sound of that. "Fire crystal? So there's more magic in this world? Not just the weird pendant and the lights in the castle?" she asked feeling more excited as she was literally hopping up and down on her knees like a small child would.

Shadow was a bit uncomfortable from how she reacted to that. "Of course.." he said wearily while throwing the pack off his shoulders and setting it down beside him, "There are many other kinds of magic abilities. Some like Madam Vulga are born with it, others like Scourge are gifted the ability. I don't use magic often, but I can easily use a crystal in order to make something."

"So...what are these crystals? Are they very special, too?" He shook his head.

"No. There common around Celedane. There's plenty out there and people sell them at a cheap cost, depends on what you get. It's also easy to use once you hold them in your hands."

"Are there different kinds of crystals? Like fire, water, earth, that sort of thing?" she asked.

He opened the pack while talking and took out two large apples and a large glass jar to use for water. "Correct. The crystals tho, they are not always used many times. You have a fire, or a water crystal in hand, and after using it about three times, or more, the power inside empties out and it's just an ordinary rock."

Amy nodded. "So like a battery." she pointed out.

"A battery?" Shadow asked. She shook her head and sighed heavily.

"Nothing...don't worry about it. But I like to see some of the crystals up close! They sound pretty cool!"

He shrugged his shoulders again, then held the apple towards her to take. "Eat this. I'll get some water from the stream. I'll also try to find more firewood since it'll be a long night for us. Don't go anywhere, and never stray far from the fire." he instructed.

She took the apple and held it tightly while looking at him confused and a little worried. "Alright..but why, tho?" she asked.

"Let's just say...anyone who ventures out in the dark without any means of light, will never see the light of the next day." with that said, Shadow stood up from his spot and placed his apple down by the pack, but kept the jar in hand.

Amy watched him start to walk away from the fire still unsure of what is really out there for him to make that sort of answer. "Wait! What about you?" she called out.

He turned around and pointed at his sword he still held around his waist. "I'm fine. I've dealt with the night terrors my whole life. Just stay there and don't shout." he warned her before turning away and walking further away from the light of the fire, and from her sight.

Thanks to his fur color, Shadow wasn't able to be seen so easily. She wondered how he could handle walking in the open without a small torch in hand, even a sword might not be able to handle whatever is out there. Amy turned away from where she saw him leave, and held the apple to her lips. She took a small bite of the fruit very slowly. Even with the growing fire in front of her, it still worried her greatly about what kind of monsters would even be around. She had read nocturnal predators do at night so the thought of being in a different world, who knows if the animals might be the same as the ones in her world.

Taking another bite of her apple, the young flower stared at the fire as the flames started to dance in a rhythmic way. It was soothing to watch and listen to the cracking wood under the flames. Thinking about it, right now reminded her of how camping was with her parents. She loved spending time outdoors and loved going to the creek with her father to fish. She giggled softly to herself remembering the time she accidentally hooked the fishing hook on her father's hat and sent it flying into the water. It was his favorite hat so he was a bit sad to see it disappear forever, but it was still a funny story that he would laugh with her.

Her mother wasn't too keen on camping, but she did like the long hikes she would take with her daughter. They would even try there best to find woodland animals to take pictures of. Amy remembered how her and her mother had found a deer standing by a tree and eating the leaves on the ground beside the trunk. It was amazing to see it up close. She really wanted to go near it to pet it, but her mother told her that it wasn't a good idea. She might frightened the animal. It was sad for her at a young age, but it was still amazing to see a deer up close like that. Amy was so focused on remembering the happy times that she hadn't realized she was crying softly. She really missed her parents and wished to have those memories be real again. Being out in another world and camping out in the open was interesting, but it's just not the same without her parents beside her.

"Hmm...Shadow must be taking some time to find some firewood..." she wondered out loud, not caring if she did, or not, "I wonder what kind of animals are out there.."

She actually didn't think she would be heard, but unfortunately, she was. And it's not a good thing either. Her ears began to twitch a bit after hearing a small sound of bushes brushing around. She looked up from her half eaten apple and turned back and forth to find the source of the noise. She didn't like how dark it was so whatever is out there had a pretty good camouflage on. Standing up slowly after picking up one of the more thicker and longer sticks, Amy held the stick up to fight while looking back and forth thoroughly. She couldn't see it, but she can definitely hear something was around. "Shadow..? Are you back? If you are, then come out..! I don't like playing hide-and-seek at night...!" she called out completely forgetting the warning Shadow had told her. Not to shout.

Finally, the figure that was out there started to show itself to her. It truly was a monster, not a normal animal like she had seen in books in her world. The light of the fire was able to have it shown to her, and it wasn't a pretty sight. The monster was a panther like animal, but it had two long tails that were swaying back and forth that looked to have stingers on the ends of it like a scorpion, large fangs like a saber-tooth tiger dripping with drool from what she could tell. It's body was very skinny enough to show it's ribs and it's legs were thiner as well, but it's paws were more bigger to hide it's larger, sharper claws. It's deep red eyes stared at the trembling girl seeing that she was a prey and wasn't moving so it could attack.

"Okay...your definitely not like the animals back home..." Amy quivered in fear as the monstrous cat creature began to stalk her with it's body hunched low and tails upwards ready to strike. She held the stick up to attack, but she was too scared to even move her arms, or even move away in case it pounced.

The creature wasn't able to get close enough because of the light from the flames. It was true that Shadow told her to remain near the fire. It seemed like the creatures like this didn't like the light of any sort of way. Sun, fire, anything. Amy did her best to remain still and had her eyes glued on the monster after it stopped it's stalking so it was at least several feet from her. But that didn't stop it's tails from pointing directly at her. In one strike, the tails shot right at her making her scream in fright. She finally forced herself to move out of the way causing the tails to stick right into the fire burning them easily. Tho, the wood scattered around from the force of the hit so the flames were easily snuffed out with only a bit of the burnt wood showing.

Amy dropped to the ground on her side and quickly turned around to face the creature. Now with no fire, she's completely vulnerable to this monster. It was even worse when she could barely see it with only a little light from the moon shining down at it. The monster turned to face her after it was done screeching in pain from the flames, it didn't stop itself from wanting to rip her throat out. She tried to crawl backwards, but her body wasn't able to move again. She had never been so scared in her life and it was causing her to literally be stuck. All she could do was wait till this monster could attack her. It finally reeled itself back before launching into the air after pushing off it's hind legs and right towards Amy. She let out another shriek in terror and covered her eyes waiting for it to bite her.

Suddenly, she heard the sounds of heavy feet rushing towards her and the sound of a heavy grunt followed by an agonizing wail from the monster. She slowly opened her eyes, then widened them after she watched Shadow practically wrestling with the monster. He held his sword out sideways with one hand on the holder, and the other on the blade. The monster was leaning against it with it's front legs and trying to reach towards him with it's head while snapping it's jaws at him. Shadow struggled hard with the creature feeling the more taller being start to push him back. His feet were digging deeper and deeper into the ground trying his hardest to push it forward.

"Rose! Get the fire going! NOW!" he yelled while moving his head back and forth each time the monster attacked with it's mouth.

Amy finally shot herself up from the ground and over to the firewood without word. She could see that the charred remains of the wood were still burning, so she quickly gathered them up with the same stick she had picked up and piled them all up again. Leaning down so her face was closer to the burnt area, she started to quickly blow onto it watching it glow a few times. Sadly, the flame wasn't starting, the wood wasn't too hot enough to start a fire. "Shadow..! The fire isn't starting!" she cried out now moving her head away to look up at him.

Shadow growled under his breath in anger. He really wished he kept a fire crystal in hand since they needed it right now. The monster wasn't letting up and it was getting very impatient. It reeled it's tails back again, then shot forward striking the knight in the chest and head. Shadow was quickly jump away, but wasn't too quick to dodge one of the tails that sliced a good cut on his arm. He grunted from the pain, but didn't care to see how bad it was. The monster was still trying to strike at him. He kept jumping back and forth with each strike it did until he jumped away and slashed his sword down on the tails cutting the stingers off easily. The monster backed away while crying in pain while whipping it's tails back and forth spraying purple blood all around.

While the monster was distracted, Shadow quickly rushed over to Amy's side and basically shoved her away so he could restart the fire. Amy didn't shout at him for pushing her, she was too busy trying to looking for any sort of way to make a fire more quicker. Without thinking, she got up while Shadow was using his spinning stick technique and rushed over towards the edge of the water. There were tons of stones, big and small all around so she didn't have to search for long. She grabbed two large stones that fit well in her hands, then ran back over to him and pushed him out of the way this time. "Do this!" she shouted as she began to smack one stone against the other as hard as she could.

Shadow was confused as hell, but his worry was quickly replaced by fear as the monster was finished squealing in pain and was charging at them. He grabbed his sword and shot up from the ground in time to block the creatures attack by slamming his sword against it. It was close to swiping it's front claws at the two, but Shadow was quick enough to block the attack, now they were back in the same stance as before. This time, it didn't have it's tails to attack, but it did have it's fangs to strike. Amy was still busy cracking the stones together trying her hardest to start something. Whatever was out there was able to hear her silent prayers of rescue as the stones began to shoot tiny bit of sparked particles onto the small bit of grass she had thrown in while moving the wood together. After a few more times, she could see that the tiny bits of broken stones were causing the grass to burn more quicker.

She lowered herself back down after dropping the stones and began to lightly, or try to be as light as she can to start the fire. A small flame began to show itself on the blades of grass bringing a big smile onto her face. "Shadow! I got it started! I got the fire started!" she yelled again.

Taking a quick second to turn his head to look over his shoulder, he could see the small flame sprouting out, but it was still too small to ward off the creature. "It's too small! Find something to make it bigger!" he yelled back now turning his attention back to the creature just in time to dodge another bite attack.

Amy had to think fast. She had nothing with her that could make the fire grow bigger, she couldn't gather any leaves in time, and she wasn't sure if clothes could burn fast if she had ripped a piece from her shirt. She quickly crawled over to Shadow's pack and grabbed it. Then opened it up and reached in to feel anything for her to burn. She felt something like a paper inside, so without thinking, she took out the rolled piece of paper and ripped off at least a good chunk of it. Then threw it on the flame almost putting it out for good again, but the flame seemed to burn it more easily. She leaned back down and lightly blew onto the fire spreading the flames more and more till the piece of the paper was now covered in the fire. Amy ripped off another piece of the paper and crumpled it up before throwing it on the fire to make it more bigger.

Shadow was getting tired from holding the monster back and it was showing as his arms were cramping badly. The monster was also getting tired, but it still tried it's hardest to get at least one bite of his head. He grunted and growled as each time it reached towards him, his arms would loose more and more control of it. Before the monster could try and reach for his head again, Amy ran over to both of them with a torch in hand. She was able to make the fire as big as she could and had it on a thick stick to create a small torch for her. The monster saw the light of the small flame and began to squirm away from the two. Shadow grabbed the torch from her hand and began to step towards the creature swaying it back and forth to scare it more. The creature had no other choice since it's tails were ruined, and it had no stamina to attack anymore. With one threatening hiss, it turned around and ran back into the trees to hide.

Finally, the battle was over and done with. Both hedgehogs were panting heavily from the ordeal. Well, Shadow was literally out of breath, and Amy was trying her best to calm herself down. "...My world...my world never...had anything like that...before..." Amy spoke up softly with each breath she took.

The dark knight turned around and stepped over to her still holding the torch in hand. "...I'm...glad your knowledge...for fire came in handy.." he pointed out since what she did with the stones was very interesting and new to him, "Where did you...learn that technique..?"

She smiled softly. "...I used to read a lot in school.. I did a project about cavemen and...dinosaurs.. That's what they used to use back then.." she answered proudly.

"Well..I'm glad you remembered something.." he turned away from her and made his way back over to the small fire pit with a much bigger fire that had grown a bit after she had left to fight with him.

Amy followed behind till she stopped and sat down on the same spot she was on while he sat down where he was before. "Me too..I completely forgot till I remembered my homework from back then." she chuckled a bit to herself till her eyes landed on the small cut that was on his arm, "Shadow, you're hurt!" she crawled over to his side in a second to check on his small wound.

"Rose, I'm fine. I don't-" he was stopped suddenly when her hands gently took his arm and held it up to check more closely. She wasn't too close, but he could tell that she was in his personal bubble. Tho, he didn't say anything to stop her from getting closer to him. His body froze up when she touched his arm. Probably the first time she ever touched him and the way her hands felt, it was...nice. The cut wasn't too deep, but did need to be patched up. Turning away from him, she lowered his arm down and leaned over to grab his pack to fish out the medical kit. Once she did that, she held a small wooden box that contained a rolled up wrap, needle, and some thread. She didn't know why the needle and thread were in there, but let it go since she only needed the wrap.

"What kind of creature was that...?" Amy asked while she placed the box down, then carefully unrolled the wrap up till she had a good length to rip it apart.

Shadow turned his focus on the medium size fire in front of him. "The demon king had created several monsters in the past, but after the hero had sealed him up, Scourge was able to harness the power to create the same type of monsters Agrid had made. That was one of them. A werecat." he answered quietly.

After she got the wrap all ready for him, she gripped his hand and held it up so his arm was raised a bit. She then started to carefully patch up the wound with the wrap until it was covered up. She tied the ends tightly making sure it was secured so it wouldn't slide off easily. "I see...so that creature...a werecat. There's more like it, right?" she asked now looking up a him. He turned his head to face her again.

"Correct. And they'll come out to attack us unless we keep the fire going strong till morning." he assured.

She nodded, and slowly crawled back to her spot, but turned around again to face him. "Hey..Shadow?" she spoke quietly.

"Yes?" he answered.

She smiled softly before saying. "Thank you for saving me. I'm glad you were close by."

He stared at her for a few seconds until he finally turned his head to the side now looking away from her. "..You're welcome. I'm supposed to keep you safe anyways." Even though he had turned his head away from her, she could've sworn she saw a bit of red on his cheeks. Or maybe it was the glow of the fire.

Amy giggled quietly to herself. "I know. I'm just thankful of your rescue." she said happily before leaning back on the ground so she was now resting on her side facing her back towards him and the fire. "After that whole mess, I'm too tired to stay up."

Shadow turned his head to face her again, but only saw her back to him. "You didn't have to fight a werecat, so why are you so tired...?" he asked in a sort of sarcastic way making her giggle again.

"Don't have to be tired easily."

He rolled his eyes at that, then turned away from her to stare at the dancing flames. He was still amazed at how fast she was able to create fire. It took a few minutes for the stick technique to make a spark, so whatever she used, it was fast and simple. "By the way. How did you make the fire grow so much?" he questioned.

Amy closed her eyes to rest, but answered for him so maybe he would know what to do if he needed to start a quick fire himself. "I used the stones to make it. It needed to be flat stones so I got lucky to find two of them. I also used a bit of the grass and some ripped up paper." she explained.

At first, Shadow was able to understand why she needed to use the flat sides of the stones and some grass with the wood, but what caught his attention was the last bit. He turned his attention towards her, even if she was facing away from him, she could feel a tense stare from his gleaming eyes. "...What paper...?"