3 Chapter Two
Crouched on a tree, she surveyed the forest. She caught sight of a rabbit from her peripheral vision, but before she could pull her bow, it ran off.
She waited for another unfortunate one to pass by before she suddenly caught sight of something. Or rather someone.
There are a group of five bandits, standing over the figure of what looks to be a girl. She believes they are debating what to do with her.
She shrugged her cloak-covered shoulder and turned back to continue scouting for her food.
Not a minute later, she saw a man confronts the five men, trying to save the girl.
She scoffed, "fools."
She decided to just go back to her home. At least that's what it is to her.
She planned to come back for her meal later in the evening when the 'fools' are done playing around.
Prince Dauke stumbled upon five men hovering above a girl when he followed the sound of the voice he heard.
"Hey," he called to them. "What are you doing?"
The men only laughed at what they portrayed to be a scrawny stray boy.
"We could sell him," the one with the big nose and tiny eyes, making him look like he did plastic surgery suggested, amidst laughter.
The others burst into another fits of laughter before they decided they've jested enough. They faced the girl again.
"So girly, why don't we tumble a little over there, eh?" Another with bushy eyebrows and misplaced teeth said, leering at the still sobbing girl.
"Hey," he called again, throwing stones at them, trying to distract them so the girl could make her grand escape.
He did distract them, saving the girl, but they turned to him, sneering and snarling like dogs with rabid.
He gulped.
"Hi," he squeaked, trying to form a normal conversation.
They only leered at him more, stalking there way towards him.
They were almost at him when something wheezed passed their ears.
A figure is crouched in front of them, with his back to them.
They looked at each other, confused.
Prince Dauke was shocked out of his wit and bone. Literally. He fell down on his butts, bringing him face to face with the crouched figure.
A wind blew up her hood, revealing her raven dark hair, dark as a night, paired with an equally dark, cold eyes.
The prince connected his ocean blue eyes with her dark, cold and emotionless ones and he shivered.
Her dark eyes were staring into his soul, searching for things he didn't know, calculating.
He didn't even notice the katana, held in her hand with the grip of a skilled warrior.
He didn't miss the confusion and fear that passed through the bandits expression before they quickly covered it with shaky smirks.
She slowly stood from where she was crouched, like a vicious snake.
He was in awe as he watched her panther-like grace.
"Get away from here," she said in a chilling voice. Chills ran down the spine of the bandits. And they were even more surprised that it was a girl. A woman.
They decided to just run away, but the one with the misplaced teeth decided he wasn't afraid.
He removed his sword from its scabbard, strapped around his waist and ran at her, ready to strike.
Prince Dauke saw the way her left fingers curled around the katana in a vice-like grip.
She clocked her wrist and locked the katana in a firm grip on her left hand while using the other hand to guide it.
She moved the katana into position, the line between her eyes, holding it in her two hands and widen her stance a little to get a perfect stamina. The perfect stance.
She heard the whizzing sound of the sword slicing through the air before she saw it, coming with sloppy and uncertain speed towards her head.
She moved swiftly towards the sound, while gaining momentum, narrowly missing the edge of the sword.
She swirled and spun around with impossible speed, too fast for an untrained eyes. Her muscles moving fluidly and her katana also following her movement with the same grace, slicing fast through the air, making its way towards the man.
Without blocking the opponent's sword, she moved slightly out of the line of attack and created a slope that allows his blade to slide along her sword while it's being directed away from her centre.
He moved two paces closer to her, trying to get a definite strike.
She deflected the sword, making a downward slash to his knees.
He fell down, bringing his neck to the tip of her sword while bleeding profusely from his inner thighs.
She went for the kill, severing his jugular vein without a hint of emotion in her steely cold eyes.
The prince winced as he watched the girl deliver the killing blow, perfectly severing the man's neck.
He puked his morning food, along with the little water he drank on the grass beside him.
By the time she raised her head, the other men were already shaking in their shoes, some even going as far as to wet their pants.
When she raised her steely gaze, locking it with theirs, challenge clearly visible in them, they turned on their heels and ran as fast as their scrawny tiny legs could carry them, into the forest.
She flicked her wrist, making the man's blood that was left on the blade of her katana, splash on the Prince's face.
"Argh!" He squeezed his eyes shut in disgust while using his shirt to wipe off the blood.
She turned her back on the Prince and the girl, who was already out of her hiding place behind an oak tree.
She started her walk back to her home without giving them a second glance.
The Prince, clearly intrigued by the dangerous and mysterious woman decided to follow her.
A little bit of adventure wouldn't hurt right? He thought.
The next thing he knew, he was facing a very sharp blade, directed at his jugular, ready to severe his neck off his shoulders if he makes any slight movement.
The girl, clearly making the same decision as the prince since she's currently homeless, smacked her nose right into his back when he made the sudden stop.
She peeked from over his shoulders to check what caused his sudden lack of movement.
When she saw what was happening, she gave a very high- pitched squeak before hiding back behind him, desperately clutching his dress shirt.
"W-what are you d-doing?" He asked, desperately wishing this wouldn't be the end of his precious life.
"I should be asking you that," she muttered coldly, cocking her head a little bit to the left, trying to evaluate his intention.
"W-what?" He squeaked, his voice too high for a man of one and twenty, when the tip of her katana pressed into his neck, drawing blood.
He couldn't tell if she was actually going to kill him since her hood is back on her head.
"Why are you following me?"
"Me? I wasn't following you, I was only going on my way," he voiced out, clearly gaining back his composure.
Imelda decided they weren't worth her time and continued on her way.
The prince, being the stubborn and strong-headed man he was, continued following her, trailing behind her back at what he thought was out of her sight. The girl also followed suit.
Any time she stopped, angling her head in their direction, without directly looking at them, they would also stop, whistling while pretending to be plucking stray leaves off some tree.
She curled her pale lips around her teeth in her famous smirk.
When they decided she wasn't suspicious anymore, they continued their charade.
They turned to continue trailing her but to their chagrin, they couldn't find her anymore.
They turned on their spot, trying to locate her cloak-clad figure but they still couldn't discern where she vanished to.
The next thing they heard was the whizzing sound of a blade, right beside their head, before they felt the tip, each one of them, directed at their neck.
"I asked once before, and after this, I wouldn't ask you again. Why are you following me?"
