The sun pierced the clouds as the day began, I awoke with a yawn to the sound of chirping birds. I looked around my small house, content with my situation before I ran a hand through my long red hair. Yes, I said red hair.
It was quite rare, I had yet to meet another person with my unique hair color but I didn't care much anyway, and nobody else did either. No matter what color my hair was I was still me.
I was still Christa Naori, a novice mage from Ravenwood. And nothing would ever change who I am or what I stand for.
Or at least that's what I thought at the time.
I rolled out of bed and found my outfit for the day, a long white tunic that went down to my upper thigh a blue vest with a gold line down the middle, and a white hood that I left down. To finish my outfit I also wore black leggings and brown shoes. I tied my long red hair into a ponytail and grabbed my spellbook, placing it in its case on my hip, and exited my small house.
"Hey Christa, good morning," Albert, the town blacksmith greeted. I lived right next door to him so he always greeted me in the morning.
"Good morning Albert" I greeted with a cheerful smile.
I walked down the path, past the blacksmith to get to the bakery. I always made sure to wake up when the bread was fresh. I loved the taste when it was fresh out of the oven and I loved the way it seemed to crumble in my mouth.
"Good morning Mary" I greeted as I entered the bakery.
"Good morning Christa" she replied, a wide smile on her face. I handed her a few bronze pieces and she gave me my bread which I quickly ate right in front of her. "I don't think I've ever met someone who likes bread as much as you do"
"Well I have a lot to do today," I countered, dreading my loaded schedule for the day.
"Well I'm sure you'll manage," Mary said and I nodded with a small laugh.
"I hope so," I said as I dusted off my leggings and headed out the door. I looked around before nodding and heading into the forest.
I walked aimlessly for a minute or two trying to gather my thoughts.
"Emma needs some medicinal herbs, Albert asked for a special kind of wood and Barry needed some new alchemy ingredients" I muttered as I began to look for the items.
I had been offering up my services to the villagers for a while now, mostly using my magic to collect ingredients. It was efficient to work and I could always protect myself if I was attacked by wolves or bears. Bandits were a different story but there weren't any around here so I didn't think I had anything to worry about.
"Well that should be everything," I muttered and then noticed how dirty my face was, I could feel the dried up dirt and mud clinging to it "maybe I should wash up a bit"
I made my way over to the river and kneeled at the water's edge, splashing the water on my face in an attempt to clean up a bit. I loved the serenity of the forest, it made me feel calm to sit out here and take in nature on my own.
I finished washing my face off and began to gather my belongings to leave before I noticed something floating in the water. No not something, it was someone. A boy with blonde hair was unconscious, or probably dead, and floating through the water facing upwards.
I grabbed my spellbook and said the incantations.
"Wasser Ziehen," I muttered as the water began to shift and pull the boy's body towards me and lifted him out of the water. I quickly checked his pulse and determined that he was, by some miracle, still alive.
I was astonished by this, I thought for sure the boy was dead but here he was still breathing. It was nothing short of a miracle.
But he wasn't out of the woods yet, his body was freezing. If I didn't do something he could go into hypothermic shock and could still die.
Thinking fast I cast another spell.
"Heilen," I cast and his body was surrounded in a golden light, I immediately noticed color return to his body and felt his body temperature increase.
I sighed in relief and gathered my belongings before using one more spell on him.
"Schweben," I said and his body began to float in the air and I pulled him along with me back to the village. There was only so much my healing magic could do to help him. He needed a doctor right away and I knew there was one in the village.
As I entered the village people immediately noticed my new tag along and came to question me.
"Christa, what happened out there?" Flynn, the town's fletcher, asked
"I found him drifting in the river" I explained as I brushed some hair out of my eyes "is Emma in"
"Yeah come on" he replied, slinging his bow over his shoulder and leading the way to Emma's place. Emma was the town doctor and a damn good one at that. If anyone could save this boy it would be her.
"Emma, are you here?" Flynn asked as he knocked on the door and we heard some tumbling from inside before Emma opened the door.
"What is it?" she asked, straightening her blonde hair and finally noticing the unconscious boy "bring him inside now"
I quickly floated the boy into the house and set him down on the bed. Emma sitting in the chair next to him.
"What happened?" she asked and I shook my head.
"I don't know," I replied "I just found him drifting in the river"
"You did a good job treating him for now but leave the rest to me," Emma said and I nodded.
"I need to get back to work but update me on his condition okay," Flynn said and Emma nodded before Flynn left the hut, leaving Emma and me alone with the patient.
"Christa, I need you to do something," Emma said and I turned to look at her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I need you to find this flower," she said, showing me a sketch of the blue and red flower "it contains properties that will help heal him faster, I would get it myself but I'm not as equipped to handle that as you are"
"Don't worry, I'll find it" I promised and Emma smiled.
"Thanks, Christa," she said and I headed out the door and ran back into the forest.
I walked around for a while, trying to find the flower Emma had meant but I was having no luck. I couldn't find it anywhere, I knew I couldn't give up so I kept looking.
Finally, after what felt like ages I found it, the red and blue flower that was needed to make the medicine.
I quickly plucked the flower and placed it in my satchel before I heard a noise, it sounded like footsteps. Suddenly a felt and arrow whizz by my head and I rolled to the side and hid behind a tree.
Bandits? What were bandits doing around here, whatever the case it appeared I was their target? Another bandit appeared out of the blushes and brought an axe down on top of me but I rolled out of the way and his ace got stuck in the tree.
"Windstoß," I said and a blast of wind slammed into the bandit, sending him flying into a nearby tree.
"Watch out, she's a mage" one bandit yelled and drew two daggers. He ran at me and tried to slash me but I jumped back.
"Feuersturm" I yelled as a blast of fire engulfed the bandit and he was sent flying with burn marks all over his body. He was alive though, my flames weren't strong enough to kill him. Another arrow shot past my head and I dodged again, unfortunately, another large bandit was ready for this as he slammed his club into my stomach as I rolled, sending me into a tree.
My vision was suddenly blurry and I could hardly move when another bandit approached me. He had short blonde hair and a goatee, he was also holding a bow so I had assumed he was the one who shot at me.
"You put up quite the fight there Red," he said as he placed a hand on my head, I would have slapped it away but I was too exhausted to move.
"Screw you," I said, not willing to give him the satisfaction of breaking me.
"Oh a feisty one eh," he said "I want this one alive"
A few more bandits approached me and the pain finally became too much for me and I finally fell unconscious.
____________________
This wasn't the castle.
That was my first thought upon waking in a place I wasn't familiar with.
I quickly recalled what happened and wanted to break down and cry, I didn't though. I couldn't afford to be weak now. Kaia would kick my ass if I cried now.
I sat up in the bed and looked around, I was left alone at the moment. That was fine, it gave me more time to gather my thoughts. I noticed my sword propped up against the wall and I was wearing new clothes. Whoever had found me must have changed me.
I was no longer wearing a shirt but had black pants on, my usual attire was placed on a chair next to me along with my shoes.
I rolled out of bed and put my clothes back on. And then strapped my sword to my belt on my hip.
Then suddenly I heard the door open and a brown-haired girl stood there.
"Oh you're awake," she said and I smiled.
"I'm sorry to have burdened you," I said and she shook her head.
"No no, it's fine. I'm a doctor anyways, the name's Emma" she said and I nodded.
"I see my name is...Leo" I said offering an alias and I noticed a worried expression on her face "are you alright, you seem worried"
"When you were still unconscious I sent a girl out to get a medicinal flower to treat you, but that was a few hours ago so I'm getting kinda worried about her" Emma explained and my eyes widened slightly.
I didn't know where I was but this girl could have been attacked by a wild animal or worse, bandits.
"I can go look for her if you want," I offered and Emma shook her head.
"No you need to rest," she argued and I shook my head.
"I assure you I'm fine, but if this girl got hurt trying to help me I would never be able to forgive myself," I argued and she seemed taken aback by my words before she sighed.
"Very well," she agreed and I exited the hut "just be careful"
"What does this girl look like?" I asked.
"You won't be able to miss her if you see her, she has bright red hair and green eyes" Emma explained.
I simply nodded and ran into the forest, after a while of walking I came across what looked to be a battleground. Arrows littered across the ground and slash marks in the trees. This confirmed it, the girl was attacked by bandits.
I heard faint voices and I made my way towards them, hiding in the bushes while I listened in on their conversation.
"You see that girl we nabbed?" goon one asked.
"Nah, what about her?" goon two asked.
"Dude she's totally hot, she's got this great figure, a feisty personality, and red hair," goon one said and goon two sighed
"Can you stop being so horny? this is why you're still a virgin" goon two said and goon one growled
"Shut up!" He yelled and goon the two laughed at his outburst.
These two knew where she was so I finally made my presence known.
"And where is this girl?" I asked and the two goons turned around.
"And who the hell are you?" goon one asked, drawing a dagger.
"Just some guy who can't mind his own business" I quipped and goon two groaned.
"Why don't you learn how to do that and scram," he said and I drew my sword.
"How about no" I replied and goon one roared before rushing at me with his daggers.
I dodged the first strike and parried the second one before stabbing the goon through the leg, immobilizing him for the time being.
Suddenly the second goon brought his axe down on me and I dodged, causing him to kill his friend. He looked at me in rage and I sidestepped causing him to tumble to the ground and I held the tip of my sword to his throat.
"The girl...where is she?" I threatened and he began to sweat.
"I-I don't know...I n-never saw her," he pleaded and I pressed the tip to his throat.
"Give me your best guess" I ordered and he nodded while I pulled out a map "point to where she would be on this map, if you lie I'm gonna come back here for you"
The bandit nodded and pointed to where their hideout was. I then punched him in the face, knocking him out in a single blow.
Then I began the journey to the bandit's hideout.
____________________
My head hurt. That was the only thing I could think of as I tried to move my hands. No good, they were tied together with rope. I looked around at my surroundings, I appeared to be in some kind of dungeon.
"So Red finally decided to wake up," a taunting voice said and I looked up to see the goateed man who captured me.
"Did you finally decide to bathe? No wait you still smell like shit," I countered and he laughed.
"Ooh funny," he taunted, kneeling in front of me, I tried to kick him but found that my ankles were bound as well. He decided to taunt me a bit after that, running his hand through my hair. I tried to move but he just grabbed onto my hair and pulled me back.
"Piss off," I said and he frowned.
"You know I could have killed you, instead I chose to spare your life," the bandit said and I scowled.
"And I'm sure your intentions were so pure" I countered.
"Well what was I supposed to do, you're an awfully rare beauty," he said "I could sell you off for quite a bit of gold but that wouldn't be fun. I'd rather keep you for myself"
At that moment for the first time, I felt fear, I wasn't just a prisoner being held for ransom. I was his slave.
"That seemed to shut you up," he said and he touched my hair again "you have such pretty hair"
"I suppose we can agree on that," a new voice said and I turned to see the boy I saved from the river "her hair is very pretty"
"Who the hell are you?" the bandit asked and the boy laughed.
"Who I am is of no importance, you'll be dead soon anyway" the boy challenged.
The bandit was having none of this and he ran towards the boy who easily parried his strike and kicked the bandit in the face.
"Really? Is that all?" The boy asked, intentionally pissing his opponent off.
The bandit slashed at the boy again but he effortlessly dodged and disarmed the bandit leader. And I don't mean that he knocked his weapon away. This was a lot worse.
The bandit screamed in horror as he saw his, now severed, arm lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
"No wait...please you can have her" the bandit pleaded "she's a rare beauty you know, she's all yours"
The boy stopped a bit at hearing this and my heart sank, was he gonna take me, prisoner,r, instead.
"What kind of man do you think I am," the boy asked "I am not one to give in to such petty desires. My name is Loki Leonhart, and you will remember that name for the short time you have left on this mortal plane"
And just like that, it was over, Loki slammed the butt of his blade on the bandit's head and bandaged his wound before he made his way over to me.
"I'm sorry you had to see that" he apologized as he cut me free and I shook my head.
"Thanks for rescuing me," I said with a bow and he smiled and we heard voices and saw the door start shaking. The other bandits were attempting to break in.
"Well we're not out of the woods yet," Loki said and he pulled me towards a window "do you trust me?"
"I just met you but...yes" I replied and he smiled before wrapping a strong arm around my waist and jumping out the window.
I screamed in fear as he grabbed onto a tree branch and slowed our descent. We landed softly, his arm still wrapped around my waist.
"Are you alright?" he asked and I nodded, my face looking as red as my hair before he finally let me go. "Then come on, let's get you back home"
"Hang on, I have a question first," I asked and he stopped walking.
"Are you Prince Loki Leonhart?" I asked and he nodded slightly "is it true that you killed your parents"
"No, but I know who did. My mission here is to clear my name" he explained and we began the walk back to the village.
After a while, we finally arrived and I was greeted by the relieved townsfolk, they thanked Loki and he began to leave.
"Wait for a second," I called after him and he turned around.
"What is it?" he asked and I blushed slightly.
"I'd like to come with you," I said and he froze. "Don't give me that look, your goal will be hard to reach, and you saved me. I owe it to you to help you"
"It will be dangerous," Loki said and I laughed
"I can handle myself" I assured him and he sighed.
"Very well, gather your things, we leave tomorrow," he said and I smiled.
"Where are we going first," I asked and he smiled
"We're going to pay another falsely accused traitor a visit"