The Dark Ages

Prologue

Fingers and face numb from the beating rain, she squeezed the reins even harder and told herself not to let go. The hooves of the horse paddled the ground with such force and speed that it was really a wonder the ground didn't break under the force.

Both the rider and the horse were on their limits. The over four-hour journey was taking its toll and it was starting to show. The horse was panting as if ready to collapse from exhaustion and the rides pressed even closer to the horse's warm body.

It was the only thing consoling the rider at that moment as the heavy rain mercilessly fell over the both of them. But neither could stop. They had passed a village an hour ago, but stopping was not an option. The chase was not something one would purposely get themselves into and if one was to ask at this moment, the rider would choose anything except being the prey for the predators.

They needed to get to Fire Country and its capital Konohagakure as soon as possible.

The uneven ground sloped slightly causing the galloping horse to take a small miss step before returning to its normal gallop. The rider would have shriek from the panic if it wasn't for the sore throat.

The weather seemed to only get worse and worse by every second, and it was starting to be a struggle to stay on the horse and not fall down.

Like on every hardship giving up easily crosses one's mind and this was no exception. Giving up would make things much easier and maybe even less painful, but when there were bigger things in line, you couldn't just consider yourself. Other people's lives were in line and not just this one life life that was doing their best to make it to safety. They were the only beings able to get help.

Others needed to come before you especially when you were in a high position such as the rider.

"Catch her!" A rough voice yelled and the sound of many pair of hooves came even closer.

Heart beating so erratically it felt like her chest was about to explode, she gave a tiny tap with her legs to the horse's side to tell him to go even faster. It was very unlikely to get the horse to go even faster but it might have been the adrenaline or the up-coming exhaustion that made the horse gallop even more.

As the trees passing by and foliage started to become even more blurry the rider could only hope she was close. They were at their limit and it was only a matter of time before the rider or the horse was to collapse. Four hours going at a high speed by pushing the horse to its limit was not good at all for the horse's health and she couldn't help by feel even more bad for the whole situation.

The very faint sound of something whipping in the air was the only other sound she could hear under the loud bashing of wind, and it was followed by a loud wail of a horse. She dared a peek over her shoulder as she squeezed the reins even tighter, to see a horse falling face first into the ground with a big man following right after.

A loud grunt and maybe even a crack made her turn back forward and to see the forest thinning out. Biting her chapped lips and hoping even more that she was close, her horse ran through the rest of the trees and into an opening. It was like being blinded by the bright light of the sun. She was there! She couldn't help but be stunned that they actually made it.

For a moment, she felt struck by the sight of a massive castle towering on a mountain of sorts. It was an odd sight for her since she wasn't used to this type of architecture.

Not focusing properly on anything except the foreign sight of her, the thing that finally snapped her out of her awe and fear of the unknown was a piercing pain on her shoulder. An electric shock ran through her left arm and she felt her hold on the rein loosen.

Collapsing even closer to the horse she leaned her weight on top of it as she bit down on her lip even harder.

It couldn't end now. They were so close! It was just there, it was only a matter of seconds before they reached the open gates and passed through the them. At that point someone should be able to help.

She couldn't be this close and then fail at the last minute.

The Fate must be mocking her. There was no other way for her and her people to be this unfortunate. They couldn't just perish like this without a trace. She couldn't let that happen, but she wasn't the Fate.

She didn't have the strings of fate that she could pull at her will. She wasn't someone who could change the outcome of things.

Her father used to say that no one controlled the Fate except itself. No one could deceive it and no one could even try to take control of it. It was out of our hands. It made its own decisions and if it decided that someone should die than it should be that way.

In the end, she couldn't and shouldn't even be mad. If this is what Fate wanted for her then so be it. She would gladly except the fate given to her and cherish it on The Other Side. She wasn't going to be mad. She was going to congratulate herself for getting this far, for being this strong and not giving up even though she could have at any minute. She congratulated the horse. It wasn't a strong war horse like soldiers have, but it did a such a graceful job and nothing more could be expected from him.

That is when she couldn't hold the exhaustion at bay and all she could see was black.

This is finally the new story! I really wish to have something much lighter and not to complicated to write along side Fated Encounter. That is a hard story to write because of having the Naruto storyline going along side with it.

Leave me your thoughts by reviewing! I really want to know what you guys expect from this story and think of this so far.

This is going to be middle ages/fantasy/romance type of story with SasuSaku as the main couple.

- Jakura