A/N: (Crawls out from under rock) Hi guys! (No one looks happy) . . . Sooooo . . . yea, I know I suck at updating and I know this isn't the second chapert but their is some good news! I am actually going to make this into an on going story . . . I will still suck at updating so please PLEASE be patient because I wasn't lying when I say my inspiration comes in spurts and I can't control when they happen.

In other news no this isn't the second chapter (hides behind rock) but it is almost done I promise! I ask everyone to read this because I had it fluffed up by my awesome . . . fluffer? . . . Because she isn't really an editor or a beta tester because she dose this awesome thing where she reads my story and makes it sound . . . well AWESOME by pretty much rewriting the whole thing! So half of the credit of this story will go to her. I would say her fanficiton and or ficitonpress name . . . but she doesn't have either of those . . . (sighs) -_-" So yea if you could give a big thank you to my "Fluffer" she would really like that a lot and she will finish up with the second chapter sooner. And when I say sooner I mean in a few days from when I posted this.

THANK YOU TO

shippolove844 & Amber Flare Summers: More is coming!

Lereniel: I am glad you think it is interesting! I hope to make it even more interesting so keep reading!

NovaLight: Aaaaah! I did see what you did there, and thank you for the insperation you have helped me think of a few things to come! ^-^

Ronin is my Hero(guest): You get your wish! I am continuing the story! ALTHOUGH! I am not sure if I want it to be a romance for Ronin or for the guy with the red poofy beard. (I have named him Ronin's lieutenant in my story. Dose anyone know his name or even if he has one?) The reason for this is because . . . I love Ronin and Tara together so much and I will feel guilty if I give him a new lover. (If that makes any sense)

SkywardWriter: She will freak out in the next chapter and I did try and put more description in it myself . . . it didn't work well. So please message me or post a guest review saying how well my "Fluffer" did! She would like to know

I don't own Epic or any of the characters from the movie!

A 34 year old woman treks home, away from her broken down car. The mastermind apparently knew enough about vehicles to make hers give out before she could reach her home. She knew it was sabotage judging by the smug message left in sharpie on the underside of her hood. Stop trying to defend the forest. It's dead. Let advancement take its course. The message hardly fazed the woman, and she has already begun planning her next legal move against the house developers. There are plenty of developments elsewhere. Bulldoze something man made and replace it respectively. That makes more sense to me. These guys are just too lazy to make any other effort… The woman's head falls back a bit as she casts her gaze upwards to the limbs of the trees high above her. Her gaze falls to the road on which she walks as her toe taps a pebble from the road. She can hear the faint buzzing of a few humming birds' wings. Her gaze flits upwards again as she smiles at the three little birds fly past her, giving high pitched, chirping calls. As her eyes leave the focus of the creatures, they finally soak in the hue of the now darkening sky. "Oh my gosh… It's almost dark," she softly exclaims to herself, her brow furrowing slightly, "How did I miss that…?" Her pace picks up to a light jog, but she soon slows back down to a moderate walk. No sense in getting overly tired... She pulls her phone from her pocket, searching the display for the battery icon. She breathes a slight sigh of relief, seeing that more than half of the charge is intact. If it's necessary, she can use her flashlight app.

Just as darkness begins to overtake her vision, a car pulls up in front of the woman. The high beam headlights hinder her view of the car's body. The vehicle halts about three yards away from her before there is an array of opening and closing doors. The woman pauses, confused by the appearance of the car. "Um… I'm alright. You didn't need to stop," she reassures the figures as they step into the light. The previously shrouded men can now be properly seen. The men all wear suits, only adding to their imposing posture. One other fact is noticed: of the four men, two hold guns. The remaining two begin to unsheathe their wakizashi swords. A wave of realization hits the woman as she speaks to the men, "Oh. You must work for Mr. Jin." The swordsmen advance slowly, but she matches the pace, stepping backwards. "You know," she begins, "Considering how long I've been trying to hinder his plans, I'm surprised that he's just now sending his goons to take me in."

"Oh, we are not here to 'take you in," with this, a smile appears on the speaker's lips, "Mr. Jin has had enough of you." Both swordsmen lift their blades as if they are extensions of their arms. "We are here to ensure that you don't make it home tonight…" The man's smile can be heard in his words.

"Well, that explains my car," the woman scoffs to herself softly, sighing soon after. Now she struggles with herself to keep calm and seem unfazed. Chill out, Fallin. You know how to disarm a guy with a knife- Well, in this case, a sword. Just keep your cool. Don't freak out. Taking another step back, she plants her foot in the ground. "I am flattered that Mr. Jin believes it necessary to send four men to kill me. Or is it just that you four are the incompetent lackeys?" As the original speaker's smirk fades, Fallin gains one of her own. There is a growl from one of the other, obviously prouder, men. Come on, take the bait. She gains an expression of mock-culpability, her voice mirroring the charade, "Oh! I'm so sorry! Did I make you realize your own incompetence as a human being?" Now, a roar rips from the swordsman on Fallin's left side. The goon, his arms raised in a high stance, advances on the woman quickly. Just as he comes into her range, Fallin lurches forward, her hands gripping the hilt at either end. She twists it sideways and ducks down to the ground, sending the man tumbling over her. Before another action can be taken, the man is nailed in the back of the head by the back of his own sword.

The air rings with the rap of a gunshot, a shock of pain emanating from Fallin's upper left shoulder. Her hand flies to her wound, gripping it with immense pressure while still holding the sword in her left hand. Without another hesitation, she bolts into the shadows of the adjacent trees. Bullets skim by every nearby tree and all about her, barely missing her fleeing form. The attack only serves to make her run faster, fight or flight biting her system like a pair of spurs to a horse. The gunshots gradually slow as a pair of the footsteps soon grows louder. Stand and fight while you still have the energy and the blood. She almost scolds herself mentally. Sliding to a stop, Fallin readies herself with an offensive stance and her hands on the hilt of the sword. Moving to attack first, the woman lurches forward, however, she soon realizes that making the first move was the wrong thing to do. Instead of the resistance of another sword, she feels the cold sting of steel raking across her abdomen. The sword bites into her skin, but the gash isn't devastatingly deep. Her left hand clutches the wound, now covering both of her hands in blood but still standing ready to continue the brawl, wielding the sword in her right.

Fallin knows that she's in trouble at this point. She also realizes that one more cut and she'll be reduced to a useless lump due to shock. So, she waits for the man to make the next move. He advances, and in a swirling mess of tripping and blades biting into skin on either end, Fallin finds an opening and takes it. She lunges forward at the man's right shoulder, the sword giving as it plunges through him. Head-butting him hard enough, the woman takes him to the knees and eventually face-first into the ground. The now exhausted Fallin falls back as he knees give out from the self-inflicted impact. She leans forward a bit to seize her fallen attacker's sword. Another deafening crack shatters the air as a bullet grazes the top of the woman's hand. Jumping back, she scrambles without the sword to crawl behind a close by tree. Trying to keep from hyperventilating, Fallin takes a few deep breaths, only listening to her own mental advice. You have to run, Fallin. It's your only chance to get out of here alive. Her palms press into the tree at her back, sliding up the rough bark to a standing position.

RUN. Fallin's palms shove off of the firm tree, giving her a boost of adrenaline and allowing her to ignore the fire painfully pulsing at her wounds. Only a few yards from being overtaken, Fallin's foot gives beneath her as a slick rock foils her escape. A scream escapes the woman's lips as her helpless form crashes and rolls down a steep hillside. She hits fallen logs and rolls through bushes and the foliage. The two men follow her to the edge of the hill over which the woman plummeted. The three simply look after her, satisfied to assume that she won't survive the fall, let alone the rest of the night. After a few moments, they turn back to help their fallen companion.

Fallin wakes at the bottom of the hill lying flat on her back. The sky still yields no light. A low humming mixed with a soft squeaking fills her ears. Her eyes focus slowly, seeing (or at least she thinks it's there) a small white flower. The pedals don't yet yield their beauty to the world, staying closed as the flower sits on the woman's nose. Her brow furrows as she blinks a couple of times. Her eyes seemingly trick her into seeing a small and worried expression right beneath the bud of the flower. In her peripheral vision, Fallin sees almost a cloud of fireflies dancing about her. They gradually come closer to the woman as the wind picks up; its cool breath causes the trees to sway slowly. They seem farther away than when she was wandering down the road, but she just takes into account that she's on the ground. Her eyes close, the lightning bugs assaulting her vision. Soon she hears a new set of voices above her.

"Your majesty-! What are you-?" the samurai-like warrior is cut off by a youthful girl with a bit of gruff clinging to her throat.

"We have to help her, Ronin. Did you not see what she just went through? Help me!" Feeling a small arm wiggling itself under her neck, Fallin doesn't think to protest. However, as the unknown savior tries to lift her, the woman holds back a cry of pain with little success as every one of her muscles spasms in a red hot rush of pain.

"NO! Your majesty, you will only hurt her more!" Fallin can now open her eyes, letting them focus on whoever surrounds her. She sees a green girl in a flowing white dress standing above her. The girl has a purely white flower bud to resemble her hair. Fallin soon realizes that this is what she had seen just a few moments before. There are two men that accompany the girl. Both are clad in green armor resembling the leaves of a plant. One of the men has a crescent moon adorning his helmet, and the other sports a red goatee.

"Ronin… Please…" The girl's plea is so desperate, racked with sad sobs as she speaks. It was no surprise that Fallin feels small drops of water plink onto her face. This tears at the woman's heart as she tries to comfort the girl,

"Don't cry, p-… please." Fallin feels her chest tighten with the effort to speak and tries to take a full breath, but this only serves to make her cough.

The girl soon hushes Fallin hurriedly, "Don't speak. We are your friends, I promise." The green girl gingerly caresses the woman's cheek reassuringly. There is a pause before another voice sounds,

"Let me take her, your majesty… I will go on ahead and take her to Moonhaven. They can heal her there." There is a sigh of relief as the girl speaks gratefully,

"Thank you, Ronin…" A now set of strong arms slides beneath Fallin's neck and knees to pull her off of the ground. The explosion of pain attacks her senses again, more vibrantly than before. But when sound should escape her lips, there is only a hiss of a gasp. The strong arms turn sturdy and gentle as the man cradles her as if she were a cracked porcelain doll.

"Hold on… Just hold on and I will take you to be fixed," the man's voice is concerned and he speaks hurriedly, realizing how critical the situation is. He starts off at a jog, hardly bouncing as he does so. Fallin's eyes open just long enough to observe the man's blurred features. A strong jaw, a set of concentrated eyes, and a worried frown all depict the emotion one may feel on a mission that might knowingly fail. "Hold her. Hand her up to me in a moment," the warrior moves quickly but very carefully. Changing arms causes little pain to Fallin, but the wrenching of being set in a high saddle makes her brow wrinkle as her breath comes in short gasps.

"Be as gentle as you can, Ronin. Stay with her until I am there!" the girl addresses the man firmly. A small jerk from the man seems to start the fluttering of wings as they are lifted from the ground.

"Yes, your majesty," the man answers dutifully before raising his voice to the creature he controls, "HEYA!" Before she can brace herself, Fallin's back is pushed into the chest plate of the warrior's armor, and they're off and moving. A few minutes pass with a nonstop Jetstream of air cooling the two. The man had wrapped his arm about her waist to keep the woman from falling, but it didn't do much to prevent the cold from numbing her wounds.

Sleep… The voice in her head is kind and gentle. Just go to sleep and this will all go away… The voice coaxes her to drift into the darkness that always seemed to shut her eyes after a few moments of them being open. Fallin tells the man drearily, her eyes already giving in to the voice's suggestion, "I-… I'm drifting…"

"NO! No, you can't!" his voice is urgent as he tightens his grip. The man leans forward as the wind picks up his speed and they dive through the air. "Stay here. Do not drift!" he seems to have a hint of acceptance touching his voice. This gives Fallin a bit of realization.

"I won't make it, huh? I've lost too much blood and-"

"You speak another word, and I swear, after you're healed, I will make sure that your life here will be miserable," cutting her off, the man's voice is straining to be agitated; it ends up sounding almost desperate. The sound of rushing water touches Fallin's ears as they descend farther down. "We're almost there. Just over this waterfall and we'll be there. So, stay awake!" There is a brief weightless feeling as the two are lifted from the saddle. A force pulls them to a stop. The man's voice sounds again, shouting at this point, "Take her to the healing chamber, now! Quickly!" Fallin is again passed into the arms of another, gritting her teeth as the person begins to jog.

Her environment lightens as the person moves swiftly through the corridors. The sound of their feet echoes off of the solid walls. There is a chorus of panicked words being shouted by her rescuer, "We need a healer! We need a healer!" The man's yells echo as his footsteps did. There is distant rustling and chatter as another urgent voice sounds,

"This way." There's more jogging; more clenching of teeth plagues Fallin, almost breaking her teeth in the process.

"Who is she?" the healer sounds confused as the leafman holding her wears a similar expression. But his is mixed with urgency as he holds the wounded and strangely dressed woman in his arms.

"I don't know. Ronin brought her," the simple mention of the other leafman has already given importance to the unknown woman's face.

"Lay her there. I will do what I can," the woman is gently placed onto the bed that the doctor specified. The leafman moves to leave the room just as Ronin steps in, the door closing soon afterwards.

"Will she live?" the head of the Leafmen practically demands the condition of the newly rescued woman. As he walks into the room, everyone bows slightly out of respect.

"She has lost a lot of blood, Ronin…" the doctor's voice is almost distraught. The girl's breathing quickens as her head turns to face the source of the voices. "Is she still conscious?!" the doctor now becomes even more distressed as he hurries about the room, collecting various bottles and containers from the pantries. The creature's body is covered in bark resembling that of a tree.

"More than likely, yes. She was able to stay conscious the entire way down the road running through the southeast of the forest…" Ronin's voice holds a hint of surprise as he explains. He stands over the barely breathing woman with one hand on his sword and the other fisted at his side as he questions the medic, "What are you going to do?" The doctor lays a few different things beside her before mixing the various ingredients in the top of an acorn.

"I cannot do much. I will reduce the pain so she can rest. Then, I will need to bandage her up. We can only wait for the Queen at that point. She has the ability to heal her," the doctor still sounds concerned as he gently cradles the back of the woman's head. In his other hand, the branch-like physician holds a wooden bowl full of water and herbs. "Come now, miss. You need to drink this," the voice is urgent at this point as he puts the bowl to her lips. The woman responds with a hand on his as she drinks the mixture. Ronin walks over to the door sized window, watching for the Queen and her escort to arrive. His expression is concerned as it normally is. "Ronin, I need you to stay with her and make sure that she keeps breathing. I have to go and gather a few things for cleaning her wounds," the stick man transfers all of his materials onto his desk before rushing to the door. He pauses before closing the door, still looking into the room as he addresses the warrior, "Ronin, sit beside her. Make sure that she knows you are there. The Queen is safe. Both Nod and your first lieutenant are with her."

Closing the door with a soft nudge, Ronin glances out the window once more before moving to the woman's bedside. He gently sits beside the bleeding and broken girl. Her breathing hitches every so often, testing what she can and cannot do to avoid the majority of her pain. Ronin watches her fists clench, her knuckles turning white with the pressure. He soon hears the grinding of teeth as her jaw clamps down.

"Hey, now... Don't clench your jaw so tightly. You might break your teeth…" Ronin's voice holds a surprising amount of concern as he places a hand on either side of her face. He gently massages the tense muscles in her jaw. Slowly, the woman's jaw loosens, but a soft whimper escapes her lips. Her brow furrows as she presses her lips into a thin line. "The pain will stop… I promise," the warrior tries to reassure the wounded woman. She takes a breath, her lips moving without words to accompany them. All that passes her lips is the remnants of a whisper. Ronin's brow knits slightly as he leans down a bit, his ear close to her lips, "Say it again, I can't hear you." Her small gasping breaths sweep over his ear. A fleeting image of Tara's face crosses his mind. He immediately shuts his eyes, begging for the image to linger just a little while longer. But it doesn't linger as the woman speaks,

"It-… it stops when-… when I die-"

"Why are you so obsessed with your own death? You will not die. I will make sure of it!" Ronin's sudden fury was surprising even to himself as he stands and paces about the room.

"Don't-" the woman's breathing hitches, cutting herself off as a coughing fit prevents her from continuing.

"Don't strain yourself," Ronin runs his fingers through his hair before sitting on the bedside again, leaning down close to her, "Speak if you can…"

"Don't-" the woman continues her previous statement, "Don't make promises… You can't keep…" With her words, a split second passes when Ronin's vision is overtaken again. His mind flashes the memory of Tara lying in front of him with the Boggin's arrow in her side. A knot in the warrior's throat prevents him from speaking; though she doesn't have the strength to open her eyes, Ronin's head turns to avert his pained expression. The door opens now, causing Ronin to stand, clearing the way for the returning medic and the two insect women flanking him. The man takes this advantage to slip out of the room quietly. He stands just outside of the room, staring at the wall. He doesn't dare to close his eyes, afraid that he'll see her again…

"Ronin!" the sudden outburst of the youthful voice makes the warrior jump, reflexively gripping the hilt of his sword. Relief cools his racing blood as he looks down the hall, seeing the Queen and his two most trusted warriors. "Where is she? Is she okay? Is she alive?" the girl practically trips over her own words.

"The-" Ronin fumbles over his words slightly, being caught off guard, "The doctor is cleaning and dressing her wounds." The white flower girl runs up to the warrior. She throws her arms around his neck in a warm embrace of gratitude and relief.

"Thank you so much, Ronin. You never fail!" Ronin's eyes widen slightly at her words. They hit him like a huge punch to his core, but it's worse than any shock that could be given to him by physical means. He takes a step back to keep his balance, feeling as though he might fall over. The young queen quickly walks through the doors.

"Ronin… What's wrong with you...?" Nod waves his hand in front of Ronin's face, looking and sounding concerned, but mostly being confused. The first lieutenant steps up from behind the younger warrior.

"General, is there something wrong with the girl?" there is a stillness in the air as he speaks. His voice is practically undetectable, not allowing anyone but the other two men to hear, "Is there no chance of saving her?"

No, no more of this… I have to stop thinking… "No, she will live," Ronin's voice hides how distraught he is. He pushes past the two warriors, picking up his pace. Instead, he comes across with his more commonplace agitation, "I have to go. I will be back before sunrise."

"Hey, you shouldn't be out there alone. Even though Mandrake isn't-"

"I will be fine and not very far away. Stay here and watch over everything," the warrior's voice is commanding at this point, exercising his authority over the two. He takes the next corner and disappears from the sight of the other two. They look after him, both confused about what just happened. They take their places on either side of the door, not able to do anything more than wonder or worry.

A/N: Ok so if you have already posted a review on here and still want to again could you do it as a guest? Either that or just message me please, please, please! My Fluffer and I really want to hear from shippolove844, Amber Flare Summers, Lereniel, NovaLight, Ronin is my Hero(guest), and SkywardWriter again! Thanks again for reviewing and I promise I will message you back if review on this and in future reviews. Even if you just say you liked it I will send a thank you.