"Haru! Get uppp!"Daki shouts as she bangs on the door.
"Hmm..."I murmur as I toss around.
"Haru!"Daki slams on the door extra hard this time, causing me to jump and fall from the bed.
"Wha?- Are we getting attacked?"I quickly stand up into a fighting position.
"No! You are going to be late for the competition at this rate!"She sighs, leaving me to get ready.
I blink a few times before relaxing my body, groaning as I pull myself together to put on clothes for the day. I walk downstairs to see everyone ready and waiting for me.
"What took you so long?"Akaza asks as he reaches for the doorknob.
"Ugh, bad dreams.."I mumble as I let my eyes adjust to the sunlight.
We stop at a nearby cafe for breakfast before going over to the colosseum, the place where the tournament was taking place.
"Are we going to fight in our usual attire though? I don't want to rip anything while fighting.."I nudge Kokushibo side as we enter the room where everyone else was resting.
"We didn't bring any other clothing.."Kokushibo sighs as we stand in a corner.
"Can I have everyone's attention?!"A person came in with a clipboard, "I will be shouting out your name when it's your turn to fight!" They then left with two participants.
I look around the room as Akaza and Kokushibo talk with each other.
'Man when can I fight and get this over with?'I stare into open space.
The time went by surprisedly fast, I was snapped back to reality when I heard my name called. I look over to see the person from earlier looking at me.
"Are you Haru? It's your turn."He frowns at me.
"Ah yes sorry."I sweatdrop as he leads me to the outside.
"Best of luck."He waves before leaving.
I look around the room before staring at the gate that leads to the outside, peeking out I could see everyone else waiting as they cheer for the next fight.
"Next up! We have Haru and Hiroto!"The gates then raise, revealing me to walk out.
I cover up a yawn as I stood in front of my opponent.
"Let's get this over with shall we?"I lazily glance at him.
"Ha, what's a girl like you going to do?"He laughs out, bringing the crowd along.
I shrug as I look at him, "Try not to die alright?"I sweetly smile at him before disappearing.
.
.
"Man, you couldn't take a punch from me?"I stretch my arm as his body lays on the floor, unconscious.
"A-and the winner is Haru!"
The crowd explodes into a thundering cheer as they realised the fight was over in a second. The ground had cracked a little as I step away from the body.
That continued for a while as I easily got through the participants.
"Man, can anyone give me a good fight?"I mumble as I crack my knuckles.
"Haru, make sure to not overexert yourself."Akaza pats my back as he leaves for his match.
"At this rate, I would be facing you or Akaza. Wouldn't that be fun?"I childish joke as Kokushibo deadpans at me.
"Akaza is already done with his match..."I turn to the door as he comes in without a scratch.
"Alright so we have 4 people left for the semi-finals, do rest well and come back tomorrow for the fight."The guy waves his clipboard at us.
"Time to compete against Daki!"I shout, running outside as the 2 follows me.
"Daki!!"I call out as the stables come into view.
"Haru?"She was patting a horse before she turns around.
"So do we get to choose a horse?"I excitedly look at the horse that she was with.
"Haha yep! This is Hazel, she's such a good girl, aren't you?"She gently brushes its hair as it neighs in response.
I went into the stables to see the other horses that they had, bumping into someone shorter than me.
"Oop sorry!"I look down to see bright yellow hair.
"Here."I held out my hand for them to take, pulling them up and getting a better view of them.
"Wow, you look like the bright sun!"I compliment him as I see a faint blush on his face.
"A-ah thank you...My name is Senjuro Rengoku, you are?"He pats his clothing.
"Rengoku...So you're a prince?"I murmur as he waits for my reply.
"I'm Haru Hino, nice to meet you Mr prince."I giggle as we make our way to the horses.
"I-i'm not much a prince compared to my older brother.."He meekly says.
"I'm sure you have a talent in an area! Everyone does, but enough about that, what is a prince doing here in a horse stable?"I question as I look at the horses.
"Oh! I'm taking part in the competition too!"He replies in a more elevated tone."I have always liked horses when I was younger."He smiles as I pat the horse's back that I chose.
"Guess that means I would be up against you."I hop onto the horses after I got the equipment on."I'll see you out on the fields."I wave at him as I leave.
"What an obedient horse you are, Midnight was never this calm when I first got her."I sigh as I remember how she would trash whenever I would try to ride.
The grassy fields seemed to stretch aimlessly as I meet up with Daki on her horse.
"Isn't it pretty here?"I look around as the wind picks up, blowing our hair.
"Oh definitely, now I want to come here more often. There's just ice back home."
I let out a chuckle as the people who are judging call us over for the rules.
"Okay, seems like everyone is here."They glance at each other before continuing," The event is to have everyone ride their horses on the track given in the forest given and make it back here. The fastest one is the winner!"
"Now for the rules, no fighting, no sabotaging the other competitors and lastly have fun."They gesture for us to take our places behind a rope.
"May the fastest horse wins!"They let the rope fall down, everyone rushing forward into the forest.
'Seems like these are the markers to look for.'I side glance at a spot of red paint on a tree.
I perk up when I could hear another horse galloping behind me, turning around I could see the same yellow hair from earlier.
"Seems like the prince is here!"I shout as the wind muffled my voice.
"Shall we see who is the fastest Haru?"He shouts back a bit louder than I thought he would from the last I saw.
Turning around again, his horse was right behind me causing me to be surprised at how fast he was.
"Not bad Senjuro!But you got a lot to do if you want to catch up!"I make a right into the denser parts of the forest.
"Wait! Where are you going?!"
'If I am right, this should be a shortcut.' His voice starts to get softer as the vegetation starts to increase.
.
.
"I'm lost aren't I?"I scratch my head as I mumble."Maybe I shouldn't have tried out a shortcut."
I stop my horses as I try to make out where I had come from when suddenly I could hear rustling behind me.
I whip around to see Senjuro on his horse, staring at me for a bit.
"Did you really just followed me?..."I deadpan as he sighs.
"Of course I did! Not only did you went out of bounds but you're a complete stranger in these parts. I don't want someone to get lost in these woods."He replies in a tired tone.
"Anyways le-"The sound of something snapping caught our attention.
"What was that?..."He whispers as he got closer.
"Let's not find out shall we?..."I whisper back as I signal my horse to slowly walk away.
An arrow whizzing back suddenly, I swiftly move my head to the left to dodge.
I look around in a hurry before landing on a black robe in the trees.
"Run!"I shout as another arrow flies towards me.
"What?!"He shouts back as his horse follows me.
"Those are assassins!"I scream out before I stop my horse at a cliff.
"Crud.."I look down to see the trees ranging into the faraway distance and the drop was incredibly high as small pieces of rock falls down.
"What do we do?"
I turn around to see at least 6 of them coming closer.
"Leave the boy alone, he's not our target."
'Tch, I could probably handle them myself but not with Senjuro here, he could get hurt or worse.'I curse to myself mentally as we got down from our horses.
"Do you trust me Senjuro?"I ask in a hushed tone.
"Yes?... Why? What are you going t-"
I grab his hand and pull us falling down the cliff.
"Are you crazy?!"He yells against the wind as the ground got closer.
"Hold on tight!"A large area water bubble suddenly appears below us, cushioning our fall but also flinging us into the trees.
"Ugh... I think I broke my back.."I got up, touching my back and recoiling when it hurts."Yup definitely.."
"And what about you Senjuro?"I ask as he lays on the ground.
I had cushioned him when we were thrown into the trees so I don't think he was injured too much.
"I thought I was going to die..."I could see his eyelid twitch a little.
"Anyways what are we going to do now?"We were stuck in some unknown place with no food or water and we have no idea where we are.
"We could wait until my brother finds us?"
"I don't think we have the luxury of waiting."My stomach growls to present my point.
"Well, it's no problem for me since this is survival 101, "I mumble as I pat my clothing.
"Come on, we better get going before it's dark."I help him up as we walk into the woods.
.
.
"What do we do now sir?"A man asks as they look over the edge, wondering if they had survived the fall.
"We retreat and wait for any news if they show up again in the kingdom."The leader of the group waves his hand as the group nods in response.
.
"Okay, so I got pork or wolf meat what do you want?"I ask, bringing up the red piece in front of him.
"The pork?.."
I shrug as he grimaces at the sight of blood on my hands. We found a cave with underground water inside so we were fine in the water supply at least.
"Did you get the fire up yet?"I wash my hands before turning around.
"Yeah, thanks for showing me how."
The embers of the fire crack as I started to roast the meat over it. We waited in silence, turning it awkward as the sun started to set.
"Your family should be worried by now and would be sending out a search team.."
"Yeah..."
More silence.
"So..."
I look up at him to continue.
"Why did you come to our kingdom?"
"Family vacation."
"Oh..."
"Here."I pass the stick of roasted meat to him.
"Thanks..."
"Hey, Haru?"
I hum as I bit on the meat.
"Are we going to get out of this?"
"Of course we are, even if king and queen can't find us, I'm going to get us back home."I nonchalantly reply as I finish eating.
"Now get some sleep, tomorrow we will be travelling."I walk off to keep watch outside.