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I woke to a warm bed and several glasses of water at my side. I drank all of them, and just as I was about to get up...I could hear footsteps from down the hall. I struggled to get up so I could find a place to hide, but my body refused to move as if paralyzed..."I collapsed along the main road, but then how did I get here?" These thoughts and many others raced through my head distracting me from the approaching footsteps that were now right outside my door. A dark shadow appeared under my doorway drowning out the one source of light in the room. I pulled the blankets over my head hoping they would camouflage me enough and the person outside would leave.

As the door creaked open I could see a shadow silhouette through the thin blanket...Then suddenly my cover was taken away and a young man was standing before me. "Hime (princess)" he said softly "...I'm glad your awake." I tried to voice the many questions rushing though my head, but my mouth was still dry, my throat was raw and scratchy, and no words came out any louder then a slight whisper. “You collapsed along the main road, I though you might live in this village and just strayed off away from your parents, but no one here has ever seen you before... Then I thought bandits might of kidnapped you and left you there...I brought you to my village it's about 50 miles from where I found you passed out. I guess it was a good thing I was delivering silk today since I had my horse with me. I know, I'll ask if anyone know what village you might have come from. Don't worry I'll help you get home. What's a young girl like you doing all by yourself along such a dangerous road? That road is the main trade route, so it’s commonly attacked by bandits ---"

The young man was interrupted by my sudden flood of tears that no matter what I did I couldn’t hold back. The young man just hugged me for a brief moment then whispered to me “I can see you've been through a lot, so you should rest. Don't worry kodomo hime (little princess) your shinobi (ninja) Kiel will protect you from now on." (footnote: this is a reference to Flames of Recca...where the main character claims himself a shinobi (ninja) and pledges loyalty and to protect a girl which he calls his hime (princess)...End of Footnote)... "When you feel better you can tell me what happened." Kiel continued covering me up to my shoulders with the blanket. Then he left as quick as he came, looking back only once to check, and see if I was asleep yet. The room became dark again, and I couldn't help but to find myself falling asleep, feeling at ease and safe in the hands of the stranger that saved my life.
{End of Chapter 1}