I carefully tiptoed my way to the opening, and peaked out from the side. Thank God that one of them was an idiot and decided to leave it open for me. I recalled earlier when I had pretended to be nauseous and one of the men left the back door open so that I didn't vomit inside the truck.

The men were all sitting around and eating rations, talking to one another. We were in a small forest, which was outside of a town that was nearby. As the men were chatting, distracted, I took my chance.

"Hey, she's getting away!"

Damnit.

My lungs burned as I rushed through the trees, as I ignored the pain of being barefoot while running through the forest. I spotted some buildings up ahead and I was so close. My foot caught into a root on the ground and as I fell, panic and adrenaline rose higher within me. I heard the crunching of the dead leaves and rustling of bushes increase louder behind me, urging me to stand up and keep running again. Just as I stood up, one of the men were right on my tail and I sprinted forward, ignoring the pain in my legs and feet. My right hand tightly gripped the kunai, and just as it seemed I was not even several yards away, my fear got the best of me. I tripped again, and broke my fall with my hands and knees, kunai a bit aways from where I fell on the ground.

When I went to grab the kunai, I failed to hear a man come from behind and forcibly push me onto my stomach. I flipped my body around in time to see the man above me, crouching down quickly to restrain me. I opened my mouth to scream, but he covered it in time to silence me, and I still attempted to resist.

"Shut up! Or I'll kill you, you stupid bitch!" he grunted as he had me pinned down with the rest of his body, his other hand on my neck, strangling me. My right hand struggled to force his hand choking me away, while the other was reaching for the astray kunai. My vision blurred as I felt the hilt just on my fingertips, and as I felt even more pressure on my lungs, my hand grasped the kunai's hilt.

And in a desperate attempt to live, I brought the kunai down on his shoulder.

He let out a guttural scream as he immediately got off and sat on his knees, clutching his right shoulder. The kunai was still embedded in his shoulder, blood seeping into his jacket. I sat there, stunned at what I had done just now.

The man held his gaze on me, murderous intent directed towards me. He chuckled, "Oh, you're going to pay for what you've done. I don't care if I get in trouble, I'll just kill you here, right now!"

As I sat there paralyzed, too scared, too weak to even move, the man pulled out another kunai from his pocket, and made the short distance over to me. ...I'm going to die. I'm sorry, Agnese… I'm sorry I couldn't even honor you by surviving myself.

As he held the kunai above me, his other hand yet again on my throat, tears had already started running down my cheeks. I'll die and no one will remember me, and I won't even remember my family either.

Please, if there is some kind of God out there….

I closed my eyes as the man brought down the kunai, I want to live for my loved ones!

And all of a sudden, I felt oddly lightweighted, and I felt no expected pain. The sound of the man being thrown off onto the ground reached my ears, and I opened my eyes to see a teenager with white pants, and a weird yellow jacket holding a sword to the man's throat. I gasped in shock.

"Young Lord!"

I turned around to see two figures running to us, both with odd masks.

"Hey, you there." My attention snapped back to the boy, who had already tied up the man with ropes. The boy smiled, eyes seemingly closed, or rather… squinty?

"Mind explaining to me why a pretty girl like you would be under attack by a guy like him?"

"I…" I stuttered, completely dumbfounded that I had just been saved, "There's more men…. I was one of the kidnapped girls to be sold in Xing. They raided and burned down our village in Aerugo."

The two figures stopped a few feet away from us, the taller one speaking, "Young Lord, why are you helping this foreigner? She is hindering us from continuing on our way to Amestris."

Young Lord? Is he royalty? He looks only seventeen! I frowned at the tall masked one's response. The teen responded, "Lan Fan, what kind of future emperor would I be if I didn't help someone in need?"

The shorter one finally spoke with a more gravelly voice, "The Young Lord's right, Lan Fan," he turned to the 'Young Lord', "Shall we dispose of the men and free the girls?"

As soon as the dark haired teen nodded, both of them disappeared.

I nervously glanced at the teen and questioned, "Who are those people that are with you?"

He kept smiling, and nonchalantly replied, "Those two were Lan Fan and Fu, my bodyguards. My name's Ling Yao."

Not really sure how to feel about the situation and just felt relieved for him saving my life, I offered, "Thanks for what you did just now….Your Highness?"

Ling rose an eyebrow, and chuckled, "You can just call me Ling."

After around ten minutes, Ling's bodyguards returned, seemingly unharmed.

"Young Lord," Lan Fan started, "We tied up the criminals and freed the girls. They aren't injured, and would be fine to get help on their own."

Their mask turned in my direction, "But what do we do about this one?"

Ling finished securely tying the burly man, and sheathed his sword. As he walked to me and held out his hand for me to take, he replied, "She looks like she could use some patching up."

"Well," I spoke with a raspy voice, "you've already helped me enough by saving my life and freeing those girls, I think I can manage-"

"Nonsense," Ling frowned, "You look pretty beat up, I insist."

I gave in and finally took his outreached hand, "...Alright."

He pulled me up to my feet, but just as he did I felt a sharp pain in my left ankle and stumbled forward, for him to hold onto my waist from falling. I looked up from his chest at Ling in embarrassment, "I think I sprained my ankle. I can't walk."

His left arm gripped my waist tighter as he brought down his right arm under my knees, bringing me up to hold me bridal style.

I internally freaked out a little, a silly fact that I didn't trust anyone holding me up where they could just easily drop me, evident on my face.

Ling looked down at my face and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't drop you."

I frowned, I hate being carried like this.

He turned to his bodyguards, "Lan Fan, Fu, let's stay for tonight at a hotel."

Fu nodded, "Yes, Young Lord."

It was a rather quiet walk through the town, and by this time it was already noon. We arrived at a pretty decent, modern looking hotel and Ling put me down and let me use him for support. Lan Fan and Fu already went ahead and got a room for us and we met at the lobby.

"We'll be keeping watch outside," Lan Fan stated shortly before the both of them disappeared, leaving Ling and I alone. He helped me to the elevator, since our room was on the second floor. I didn't really notice the lady at the front desk give me an odd look as I probably looked terrible, was barefoot, haven't showered for a week, and had quite a bit of blood soaked into my clothes. All in all, I was currently a complete, disgusting mess.

It was an awkward silence for me on my end as he let me lean on him for support as we walked to our room, then he opened the door and led us inside. The hotel room was pretty spacious, it had two rooms and even its own little living room with a couch and coffee table. Ling sat me down on the couch, and crouched down to examine my ankle.

He furrowed his eyebrows, feeling around it and asking me if certain places he touched hurt or not. "It should be fine once we ice it for the rest of the night," he looked up and held his gaze on me.

"Now then," he sat down on the corner of the coffee table, "How about we get to know each other? I'm sure you have some questions?"

I absently stared at my fidgeting hands, "Why are you helping me so much? And what kind of royalty are you?"

The corners of his lips curved up, "I'm the twelfth son of the emperor of Xing. And," he paused, "I have a feeling you'd be able to help me achieve my goal."

I did a double take after I looked up at him in surprise, "That explains it... And what do you mean I'd be able to help you? I'm just an average girl."

"As a prince of Xing…. I'm able to sense different beings. It's barely noticeable, but it feels like you're a regular human, but your presence feels alien. For a girl who says they're from Aerugo, you look more Amestrian or Cretian than anything. Tell me, what kind of person are you?" His eyes took a more serious look to them, something hidden underneath his rather happy appearance.

He knows I'm not from here. But I can't just straight up tell a stranger that even claims to be a prince everything.

"You're mostly right. To be honest, I have no memory of who I was before a few months ago. I was found and was given hospitality in Aerugo."

He held his gaze on me, calculating my response, "I don't really believe that's all you're telling me. Why don't you?"

I scowled, "In my defense, you may have saved my life but I barely know you. I'm not telling you anything else."

His smile changed to a frown, "The emperor is on his deathbed, and all of us children are competing for the throne. I'm going to Amestris to study its alchemy, and…. find the philosopher's stone, said to be used for immortality. I'm going to gain immortality to become emperor for my clan, so…." his attitude suddenly turned happy-go-lucky, and he held onto my waist.

...Huh?

"So I'm not letting you go until you tell me!" I choked.

I attempted to push him away, "G-get off!" Is he seriously a prince of Xing?

"Wait," realization sank in, "you're going to Amestris?"

Ling nodded, "Yep!"

An idea planted in my mind, "If you take me with you to Amestris, I'll tell you everything and help you gain immortality when we get there."

He let go of me, and sat back on the table, "Really? So it's a deal?"

I smiled, hope in my future becoming brighter, "It's a deal."

"Now that that's settled…." he paused at my figure, "you should take a bath because you look terrible."

"Ling!"

I left the bathroom of my room to find neatly folded clothing on the bed, probably thanks to Lan Fan and Fu. I carefully put on my clothing, trying to avoid brushing up against any cuts and bruises. When I sat at the foot of the bed, I heard a knock at the door, "May I come in?"

Recognizing the voice as Ling, I replied, "The door's open." Said door opened with Ling in view, holding a white box in his left hand. He closed the door before walking closer to where I sat on the bed, until he was within an arm's reach of me. He smiled, "Mind if I look at your wounds?" I nodded, and he soon went to work, first checking my arms. I was only wearing a tank top and shorts, which made it easier for the prince to tend to any cuts and bruises.

It was probably only around three in the afternoon at this point and I had already went through so much. I was surprised by how calm I was in this situation alone, and was just grateful that I was even rescued.

I felt a cut on my shoulder sting as Ling gently rubbed alcohol on it, eyebrows a bit furrowed in concentration at the task. I spoke to fill in the silence, "My name's Mirana. Mirana Leyton."

His dark eyes peered up at me, in what seemed in almost surprise, and intrigue. "Mirana." He tested the name on his tongue, "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah," I agreed, "I believe it means 'wonderful' and 'prosperous'."

His lips quirked up, "Wonderful, huh?"

He placed a patch over the cut on my shoulder, "Why do you want to go to Amestris?"

"I figured with all their advancements of alchemy there, I'd be able to get help finding my way back home, wherever that is." I frowned, "Amnesia doesn't really help my problem, either."

Ling kneeled down to observe my sore ankle, feeling around it and asking which places hurt the most. He sighed, "Your ankle is only sprained, so it should be fine within a couple of days. You shouldn't walk on it too much until then."

"Thanks…. Where's Lan Fan and Fu? Shouldn't they be back by now?"

He held a bag of ice he brought with him against my ankle, "They're currently keeping watch outside."

Curiosity getting the better of me, I asked, "Do you ever get attacked often because you're a prince?"

"I've been almost killed many times since I was little, as much as I can handle on my own, it's nice being able to live freely without the constant threat of my life." His eyes were closed and he was smiling, bringing up a random question, "How old are you?"

"Hm? I'm sixteen."

"Ah, so you're older than me."

My eyes widened in surprise, and my jaw dropped, "I'm older than you? No way!"

He deadpanned, "I'm fifteen."

"I can't believe this," I shook my head in disbelief, "You look seventeen, you could even pass for eighteen."

Ling quickly changed the subject, "We'll be leaving to cross the desert ruins tomorrow to Amestris. Rest up while you can now." He smiled, "In your condition, I'll have to carry you the whole way~" I snorted, He's definitely bipolar.

Ling was intrigued. He was very intrigued with this girl in front of him. He admits, this girl was unusual, her chi, her presence, her attitude. It was refreshing in a way that the girl didn't try to throw herself on him once she knew that he was a prince, which interested him even more. She was unusual indeed.

Mirana, Ling unintentionally voices out her name, thinking about how well it sounded. "That's a pretty name." He notices how she slightly bites her bottom lip, cheeks flustering a little before she responds, "Yeah, I believe it means 'wonderful' and 'prosperous'."

"Wonderful, huh?" Ling wonders if a name truly does describe a person's character. He starts to feel a slight warm feeling in his chest, barely there, barely noticeable, but he notices it anyways. He writes it off as just being a hormonal teenager who's in the presence of a pretty girl, nothing more.

But even he admits that this girl has him greatly interested to know who she is, to know everything about her, even if she's not any help in achieving his goal. His avarice makes him crave knowledge. Knowledge was power, after all. And increased power could help the prince become the emperor.

Mirana Leyton was an enigmatic girl.

I've updated in record time, yay~ This is probably the busiest and most stressful month I'll ever have in regards to school in general, but hey at least I did something good haha.

Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

~Navi