Hello everyone! This is the third fanfiction I've written and I hope you all like it. If you do happen to enjoy reading this story please check out my two other fanfictions as well. I am working this fanfiction and another at the same time so I have to go back and forth between writing chapters. I can usually get chapters out pretty fast, but if there happen to be a couple delays, I will let you know and asked to please bear with me. School is starting soon and that will certainly bring some complications. Please review my story, it means a lot to me. Enjoy!

I don't own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 1: Rumors

"Ah yes, everyone around here knows about the Silver Forest," said the tavern keeper from behind the bar. "You don't want to be traveling that road lad. There be a witch in that Forest, she'll cut out your eyeballs and-"

"Use the rest of my body for her many evil concoctions," Endymion finished for him. He'd pretty much heard the same story from everyone else.

Endymion was desperately looking for a way to shorten his journey, it was long one and he wanted to return home. He was traveling with his four Generals to pick up his cousin Raye and escort her back to the palace. If they cut through the infamous Silver Forest their journey would go by much faster, in fact it would cut it in half.

"Give it up Endymion," Jadeite called over from their table. Endymion shook his head and walked back over to his Generals and sat down at his place at the table.

"So far we've heard the same thing," Nephrite said shifting in his seat.
"The folk around here are certainly a superstitious lot," Malachite commented.

Endymion and the Generals out laughs at this comment, when they'd been young they'd always read books and wondered about the supernatural creatures of the world. So much to even sneak out at night to go into the nearby forest to look for them.

"The difference is we were kids, and we've grown out of that's stuff. These people are all grown and still believe it as surly as the sun rises every morning." Zoicite said defending Malachite's earlier comment.

"I'm actually getting rather sick of hearing about this witch. It's terribly convenient that all of the stories revolve around the Silver Forest, but no one has traveled into it because of the stories. So they have no real proof that anything they're saying is true." Endymion said looking around at the bar full of people.

It was rumored that the Silver Forest was a magical forest that started off green like any normal scenery, but as you got closer to the center of the forest everything began to turn silver. It was said the Forest itself was alive and would swallow any man whole, and never let him escape.

It was also said that all manner of mythical creatures resided in the forest, that didn't bode well for any traveler. Most people went completely out of their way to avoid the forest. Only desperate thieves entered the forest and it was said that some of those thieves would returned one day stark raving mad.

"But most of what we've heard is about the witch that lives in the forest, Serenity," Jadeite pointed out.

"What's the deal with that anyway?" Endymion speculated, "All we've heard about is that she's an evil witch that currently lives in the Silver Forest, and will kill you in everyway possible if you get near her."

"Excuse me Miss?" Nephrite said calling their waitress back over to their table. They'd learned earlier that her name was Molly; she was a good looking girl with reddish-brown hair. And she'd been living in the area her whole life, never moved that far from home.

"Can you perhaps satisfy my friend's curiosity about the witch of the Silver Forest? Nephrite asked a smile on his face.

Instead of returning his smile as they expected her to she noticeably stiffened and said in a perfectly serious voice, "Will you be wanting the more detailed, true version, or the mystical myth that everyone loves telling in their own personal way?"

Struck by the seriousness of her tone and truly intrigued Endymion leaned forward and said, "The first."

Molly gave a sigh and then began, "The girl Serenity grew up in a town not far from here called Broadsword. She lived with her mother who was a healer, it was thought once or twice that they were witches, but they were well liked so no one made much of it. One day Serenity's father came screaming out of their house ranting and raving that his wife and daughter were witches. They burned Serenity's mother at the stake then chased Serenity off into the Silver Forest, where it is rumored she still live today."

"And how do you know all of this?" Zoicite asked.

Molly paused as if weighing weather to tell them or not, then said "She was my friend when we were children."

Molly walked away before they could say anything, but they were slightly shocked to say the least. Most people were very afraid to admit they had some tie to witches for fear of being persecuted and burned themselves.

"Well did that satisfy your curiosity?" Malachite asked turning back to Endymion. But seeing the very thoughtful expression on his Prince's face he knew his curiosity had only been aroused even more.

"But the fastest way to get to Raye's is to cut through the Silver Forest," Endymion pointed out.

Jadeite and Malachite groaned, knowing now that their Prince had made up his mind about it there was nothing they could do to dissuade him. They all knew that getting to Raye's wasn't the only reason Endymion wanted to get back home. His mother had been taken ill, and their doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. Endymion wanted to be with his mother, to make sure she was ok, so he didn't have time for long journeys like this one.

"You're not going to drag us through that forest," Zoicite said. The other Generals gave their agreement with Zoicite but Endymion only smiled.

"Fine you guys can take the long way and I'll meet up with you at Broadsword in a couple of days."

The Generals grumbled about it, they didn't want to let their Prince out of their sights but they could see he would not be swayed. They knew their Prince could take care of himself, but they were his Guardians so that still gave them cause to worry.

The next day Endymion waved at his four Generals from atop his horse as they rode onto the road that would take them a good ways away from the Silver Forest. Receiving some stares from people Endymion rode straight into it, from the outside it looked like any normal forest he'd been into.

He was soon shaded by the trees as he rode deeper into the forest, Endymion was quite sure he would have no trouble navigating his way through this forest. But he wasn't stupid if he somehow found himself lost he knew which direction to ride in that would bring him out onto the road his Generals were traveling in. His four friends probably thought it was the bulk of Endymion's curiosity that led him to want to journey through the Silver Forest, but Endymion was truly alarmed by his mother's state of health. The doctors said that for now she was stable, but Endymion could see her getting worse and worse each day.

Traveling to get Raye wasn't a problem; it was the length of the journey that bothered him. With his father six years dead his mother was all he had left. Even if the slightest thing happened to her he wanted to be there. His mother meant the world to him, and the faster he could pick up his cousin the sooner he could get back. All of the stories surrounding this forest didn't' really scared Endymion, but just made him wary. A man could accomplish any feat as long as he was cautious and thought everything through.

Endymion did know for a fact that thieves sometimes traveled into the forest to escape arrest, so he wasn't stupid enough to assume they wouldn't bother him. He was a fierce fighter following in his father's footsteps. He would ride hard these first few days to get deep into the forest where the thieves wouldn't dare travel. Even though the thieves wouldn't follow him so deep into the forest the many other rumors danced around in Endymion's head. Rumors of mischievous fairies, magical creatures, and of course the witch of the Silver Forest, Serenity.

It happened the third night that Endymion was within the Silver Forest. He'd set up camp and so far nothing eventful had happened at all. Endymion had noticed that he'd been trailed for a while, but his pursuers had fallen back once he'd gone deeper and deeper into the forest.

The Silver Forest so far was like any other forest he'd ever been in. At some points the foliage got to dense to ride, and at other points the thick grove of trees gave way into a clearing or two. Small game had been easy to find so Endymion was sure even if he did get lost he wouldn't starve.

He was in one of the small clearings he'd discovered, and he had noticed one thing that was true about the rumors of the Silver Forest. When he'd fist entered the forest everything had been a lush green, looking like any normal forest. But as he'd gone deeper and deeper into the forest everything had gotten paler. Almost as if the color was being sapped from the trees right before his eyes.

Endymion looked at a patch of grass next to him that should've been a deep green, but it was a pale green that looked on the verge of going white. He must be deeper into the forest than he thought. The rumor was that everything turned a startling silver color as one traveled towards the center of the forest. He would have to ride right through it and it was obvious that he was going in the right direction.

He was trying to picture how a forest would look totally bleached of color when pain burst through the back of his head. Endymion was up on his feet already to face his attacker, but the blow to the back of his head made him stumble.

Before him stood a man that must've been one of the thieves people heard about. He was filthy and had a wild look about him; Endymion had thought they wouldn't dare follow him so deep into the wood. They must be a lot more desperate than rumor told.

Endymion lunged at the attacker with his sword hearing the 'squelch' as his sword met the flesh of his surprised attacker. The thief obviously had thought him stunned from the blow to his head. His opponent slide off his sword his now dead body on the ground, Endymion could see the rock in his hand that he'd used to hit him, but Endymion quickly spun around again as he heard the snap of a twig.

He saw another thief rush at him from the nearby trees; Endymion was already ready to meet his attack. Endymion quickly defeated his newest adversary but by the time he heard the 'wiz' of an arrow flying through the air it was to late.

The pain was sharp and great through his shoulder, telling him the arrow had hit him straight on. He glanced at the wound and could see blood begin to seep through his clothing, the arrow had gone all the way through his shoulder, he was lucky if it was just a flesh wound.

The thief who shot the arrow ran out of the trees ready to attack thinking Endymion to weak to fight because of the new wound. Endymion lifted his arm to parry his attacker's offense even though the pain shooting through his shoulder sent black spots dancing before his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw more thieves began to creep from the trees. He was greatly out numbered, and wounded as he was there was no way he could win.

Endymion disposed of his most recent attacker with a slash of his sword, but not before the dying man had managed to deliver a slash that cut terribly deep into Endymion's thigh. Knowing that he was loosing blood all too quickly Endymion mounted his horse and dug his heels into its side to send it running off into the trees. What direction he was going in didn't matter that much, only that he put as much distance between him and his attackers as possible.

He found himself leaning against the neck of his horse without knowing when he'd fallen forward. The feeling his blood running rapidly down his leg told him he didn't have much time left before he would pass out. The pain radiating form his shoulder with every movement was almost enough to send him into oblivion, but he held on with sheer determination. He needed to get somewhere safe and somehow treat his wounds. It would be too easy to die in this forest far away from the world.

His eyes grew heavy, so heavy that his battle now was to keep them open. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but the feeling of his horse running beneath him almost lulled him into unconsciousness. When his horse finally skidded to a stop it sent Endymion plummeting to the ground.

He staggered to his feet leaning heavily on a nearby tree to keep on his feet. He needed to keep moving. The trail of blood he'd left would be much too easy to follow, and he couldn't be sure how much distance he'd put between him and the thieves. The world dipped and spun before his eyes, but he kept moving forward, and foreword. He wasn't all together sure where he was heading anymore, but the only thing left in his mind was to keep moving.

He began to get very woozy and for the first time he lifted his head and looked around him. The trees looked the same, but their trucks were a startling white, their leaves glimmered silver in the moonlight that streamed through the branches. Endymion looked down at his feet and saw they were moving over grass that seemed to sparkle silver at him.

Endymion shook his head and looked around again thinking it was his imagination, it didn't feel like he was awake anymore, more like in a dream world. But the constant pain from his wounds and the river of red running down his leg was enough to convince him he was still quite awake, and in desperate need of medical attention.

He was suddenly on the ground, the silver grass tickling his face, and it took almost the rest of his strength to lift himself back up. He looked around and saw he was no longer surrounded by trees, but in a small clearing. He heard the distinct sound of rushing water and for a second thought he just hearing a roaring in his ears.

But right in front of him was a small lake of water, the waterfall a little ways to the right of him. It was a beautiful setting with the full moon casting its light and reflection upon the water, the water itself seemed to have a slight silver tinge to it.

Endymion's attention was drawn to the center of the small lake when he saw something rise out of the water. He wasn't sure what it was, but once the water settled Endymion could see it was a girl. No, not a girl a young women.

She pushed back her heavy fall of hair, water was sliding in small rivers down her naked body. She was obviously bathing and hadn't noticed him yet, in his present state of mind Endymion couldn't help but stare.

Her hair was incredibly long and a glowing silver color and her skin was incredibly pale bordering on becoming pure white itself. Her body was young and lush that had him guessing her to be young, maybe sixteen. She had all of the curves a woman should have, enough to tempt any man, she was a vision. She looked urethral, like a young goddess that had just fallen from the heavens.

If I die, taking her as my last image wouldn't be so bad, Endymion thought. He suddenly found the girl kneeling in front of him, he must've blacked out for a few moments. He saw her mouth move, but he could not hear the words that came out. She had a soft expression of concern and had had the sense to wrap herself up in a towel before approaching him.

The world did a crazy spin for him again and the black spots were taking over his vision. He could feel the strength rapidly seeping from his body, letting him know he wouldn't even be able to hold himself up in a few seconds. Acting on instinct he reached up and drew her face down to his, she came willingly.

"If I'm to die, I would have a kiss from a woman as beautiful as you to take with me to heaven," he whispered, and then pressed his lips against hers.

His tongue pushed past her lips and into her mouth without a problem, he tasted the sweet inside of her mouth, and breathed in the smell of strawberries. Then all went black.

Serenity stared down at the now unconscious man before her and quickly ripped off several pieces of his cloak to use as rough bindings. The man was covered in blood and the arrow in his shoulder must've been extremely painful.

As she went about binding the wound on his thigh she speculated about the male gender. They were truly strange if all they could think about was kissing a woman when they were about to die. Skilled at healing Serenity knew that this poor man didn't have much time left, and she needed to treat his wounds as fast as possible.

After dressing she had to use all of her strength to mount him back onto his horse. He was very lucky her home was not far from here. She quickly led his horse through the trees and she was soon standing before her small cottage.

She placed the man on her bed Serenity felt the first wave of nervousness pass over her. She hadn't been in contact with another human being since she'd been seven, at the ripe age of sixteen she knew now to be cautious. No one ever traveled through the forest, and the reason this man dared to travel through the Silver Forest made her wary. But now he was just an injured man that desperately needed her help, and she would make sure he got it.

He is handsome though, she thought with a sigh.