blue butterfly (IZANA WISTARIA ◎ akagami no shirayukihime)

3; The Runaway

It was mid afternoon when Izana got ready to head back to Clarines. While he walked through the crowd of people who split in two as he passed, he searched for a head of blue hair. He continued to search but arrived at the carriage. He sighed and took one step in but heard a familiar bark behind him. Turning around, he saw Ein running to him with a note in his mouth and a yellow daffodil. Ein ran up to him and held his mouth to him to take the objects.

Izana, reaching down, took the note and flower from the dog. Ein barked one last time and ran off, into the crowd. Izana stepped inside his ride and sat in the cushioned seat, looking down at the objects in his hands. He placed the flower to the side and opened the neatly folded paper.

'Izana,

Sorry I wasn't there to see you off, so I sent Ein in my stead.
If you ever get the chance, read a fairy tale or two when you can.
Fairy tales are the best, after all.
I hope you like Daffodil's, because that was the only flower I could find while I wrote this.
But, anyways, I hope we meet again and read more fairy tales together.

Sincerely, Umi'

He smiled at the letter as the carriage began to move. He waved out is window at the cheering crowd, and when they were away from the villagers, he sighed and sat back in his seat. He clutched the paper in his hand as he recalled the sea that night and the girl with the blue hair. He put a hand over his eyes, sighing. "That girl..."

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Time had gone by and the prince was beginning to fall asleep, when everything came to a quick halt. He jumped from his almost asleep state, and knocked on the roof. "What's wrong?" He called out to the driver.

"A dog just scared the horses, is all, my lord." The man replied. "It's still there."

A dog? Izana lifted the curtains from the door's window and looked out it, seeing a very familiar corgi. Ein looked at Izana and began to bark and run to the near forest. He turned to the prince and began to bark as if a warning or to try to tell him something. Izana got the hint and stepped out.

"My lord! Where are you going?" The driver asked.

"Just need to stretch my legs. I'll be back." He told him and followed calmly behind the dog, taking slow, long strides. What was Ein doing so far away from the village? Did he run away? Izana quickened his pace when the dog began to run.

Ein was soon out of sight but Izana could hear him barking. "Hey! That's mine!" He heard the squeak of a female voice say.

"Ours now!" What sounded like a male voice said back. "Now how about you? That hair of yours can...cost a ton."

Izana stepped out of the foliage and saw the ocean haired girl struggling to get out of a mans grasp. He had her hands behind her back as two other held knives.

"NO!" She shouted as they took grasp of her blue hair, knives to the strands, about to cut.

Izana quickly picked up a few rocks by his feet and threw them at the back of the men's heads, just hard enough to knock them out. "Come. We don't have a lot of time until they wake." He held his hand out to the girl who was on her knees.

She hesitantly raised her head to look at him as nodded. She put her hand into his and allowed him to help her up. "E...Ein?" She looked at him.

"He's just ahead. We'll have to talk about this, Umi." He said sternly, almost emotionless.

She looked at him and nodded her head in understanding. "Yeah..."

"Come. Let's go." He held his hand out to her again, helping her up.

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Sorry for any mistakes