Love Unexplained

Scroll 4: The Masked Prince

After a series of blows, Utsukushi finally reached her sister.

"You," she muttered, crouched over her body. The words croaked in her throat with bitter sadness.

"You liar, you've killed her! My sister, you've killed my sister! The only family I held dear." She cried, shaking her head in sorrow.

"No no," Hōfuku began, "I did not lie at all. You, my dear girl, just didn't want to cooperate with the terms of our agreement. Now that your sister is gone and there is only you, shall we continue?"

Hōfuku beaming with undoubtable confidence drew his sword again, ready to fight.

"You bastard!" she hissed.

Her eyes stared down the ominous man, a flare of fire blazed in them. With her face drowned in the shadows that had surrounded them, only her deathly eyes were seen in the leftover moonlight.

Hōfuku, suddenly struck with fear and shock, slightly staggered back. His confidence had sucked dry within seconds.

(Meanwhile)

Not far from where the battlefield, a small village of the Southern Kingdom filled of gentle people scattered from their homes, running to the palace worried and seeking aid from their king.

The King of the palace came out and was astonished at what the villagers were saying. Their questions bewildered him, for he himself was confused.

"What's happening in the forest?" one villager exclaimed.

"It sounds like an attack, what do we do!" the other cried, holding her children close.

"Quiet!" the King roared.

As he waited for the crowd to calm, his son, Prince Ōji, appeared in the doorway with his mother close behind.

"My dear, what do they mean?" the King's wife asked.
    "Is there really something wrong with the forest?"

Not knowing how to respond, the king consulted with his guard.

Ōji gazed upon the forest, the sound of metal hitting metal echoed on the wind as bright lightning of blues and reds flashed rapidly. He could see the shimmer of what he thought could've been causing such fuss.

Squinting hard, the prince couldn't seem to make out what was out there.

"Look father! Over towards the eastern valley!"

The king, turned looking nervous, and watching each light come and fade from the trees, one after the other.

"Guard! Can you see what's going on over there?" he called to the armored man in the tour above.

"It's a battle to the death my Lord!" came the voice of the tower guard.

"A man and a young girl both drenched with blood!"

Ōji felt his body go cold with fear. He looked to his father and saw that had too gone pale with fright.

"But wait..." the guard continued. There was a pause as he struggled to see more to tell.

He strained his eyes trying to fight against the fading light and dark of the sky. Suddenly his eyes grew wide and his face fell white, something was very wrong.

"There's a dead body! The body of a young girl, she resembles one that man is so desperately fighting!" the guard screeched.

The deathly sight frightened the guard so, that he fell to the tower floor.

"Ōji, go and help that poor maiden and bring her back, she may be badly hurt." his father demanded.

Prince Ōji got on his horse and set out to help Utsukushi.