BD:  Well, it's been a while since I updated this story, I've been busy w/ my new friends, Angel13, Hoobastanker, and Fiery-Chan.  And no, it will not be a Juryo.  In fact, this really isn't focused on romance, though it won't be completely ignored.  Now that that is taken care of………

Chapter 3:  I Save A Princess, And All I Got Was This Stupid T-shirt.

Holy crap.  Takato had some suspicions about the new guy, but to plot to attack Justines and Bransworth?  Sheesh!  He ran down the hallway corridor, until he came upon a figure.

He stopped for a brief moment.  The girl in front of him, she stood slightly shorter than he, but she was also built well.  She had a sheath by her left side which held a sword. 

-Oh man, not her………

The red-haired general stared at him.  "Ok, Matsuki, are you gonna come in quietly or am I gonna have to beat you to a bloody pulp and then drag you in?"

-She's not opening the welcome mat.

Takato stood motionless, then put his head down.  "Ok, General Rika," he said, holding his arms out, as if to be arrested.  Rika looked at him in a weird way, then approached him.  She prepared to restrain him, but Takato had other ideas.  He lifted his right hand up and wrapped it around Rika's back.

Rika, however, had been trained in these situations.  She was a general, after all.  She swung her right foot and knocked Takato off his feet.  The thief landed on the ground with a hard thud that echoed throughout the halls, knocking him out.

"You shouldn't mess with a general," she said to the unconscious body.  She looked over and saw three guards staring at her direction.  "I will take care of this."

**************

Takato awoke to the splash of cold water on his face. 

-What the?

His senses returned to him immediately, noticing that he was in a forest outside of the castle.  He grabbed a dagger from his pocket, and was about to get up abruptly.  He suddenly retreated when he saw a sword pointed straight at his neck.  "Oh, Rika, what a surprise," he scoffed, putting the dagger away.

Rika sighed.  "You'd better watch your tongue, Matsuki," she swirled her sword around his head, "or I'll have to cut it off for you."

"Ok, calm down," he said, waving his hands.  "I won't say another word about this situation.  Except, why is he doing this?  Not a good first move for a king."

"Oh, that."  Suddenly, her sword of death was pulled back into her sheath, allowing Takato to breathe normally.  "Look, I'm not going to slit your throat for overhearing.  In fact, I'm glad that you did."

"Say what?"

"Look, I want to set you free.  Ok, overhearing a private conversation involving the king and trying to attack a general usually would warrant a death slip.  Most generals would have thrown you to the dump by now.  But I have a better idea for you."

Takato was confused.  She should have slit his throat by now; as it stands, the guy is still alive.

Rika handed Takato a piece of paper.  "Take this," she said.  It's a letter from me addressed to the kingdom of Justines.  It will warn them everything they need to know to prepare for anything our new 'king' throws at us.  Give it to the king there."

"What?"

"Look, Matsuki, I don't like what is going on here.  My sworn duty," she said, striking her chest, "is to protect the kingdom of Delali, not force other kingdoms to fight us.  Obviously King Katou doesn't know that."

"But won't you get executed for betrayal?"

"I know what I am doing," she responded.  "And if I do get caught, I will fight to be free, or die trying.  We don't want a rookie king screwing everything up, now don't we?"

Takato smiled.  "Yeah.  But one last question.  Why did you have to knock me out?"

"Makes me look good in front of the other guards.  Now go, because this whole kingdom, as well as Justines and Bransworth, depend on you, Takato Matsuki."  With that, the guard walked back into the castle.

"Thanks for the pressure, Rika," he said, holding the note in his hand.

-I'll need some help.

******************

 "Suzy?  Suzy!"

-What a stupid thing to do.

Number one, Suzy was probably miles away from where brother Henry Wong was.  Second, he might attract the unneeded attention of monsters running loose.

-Monsters running loose.

Henry shook his head.  He sure hoped Suzy was safe on her own; the poor girl was only twelve years old.

******************

 "Wheeeee!!!"  Exclaimed the girl as she traveled across the plains.  She had come across a guy dressed in robes who was willing to give her a ride to the nearest town, and she accepted it.  So, she hopped on the guy's noble steed and galloped to the small town of Marysville.

Marysville was very small indeed, the population not going much over 500 people.  It was peaceful, yet tiny, but people who lived there seemed to like it.  It was dark already when Suzy and the man entered the town.

"I'm sorry, little girl, but I do not live here," the robed guy said.  He handed her a few pieces of money.  "This should give you a couple of days at the Marysville Inn.  Good luck on finding your way around."  The man in robes turned a 180, and galloped off.

Suzy wasn't sure what to do.  Living here on her own for now, without her brother, who had promised to be with her always, and held a little bit of money, along with her default money, set to stay in an inn until Henry came around.

-This is going to be fun.

******************

 "How much is the current rate for visitors here?"  She asked the person up at the front desk of the inn.

"It's 35 Delali credits, sweetie," the woman responded.

She checked her pocket.  She had more than enough; 2,419 to be exact.  It paid to be rich.  Suzy handed the woman the papered currency.  "I think this'll pay for about three days.  I'll pay more if I have to stay here any longer."

The woman nodded.  "Enjoy your stay here at Marysville Inn, sweetie."  She handed her a key, which she took from the hand.

-What's up with her and sweetie?

******************

The plains of Aramenia were especially quiet that night, another advantage for stealthy Ryo Akiyama as he tried to rescue the damsel in distress.  It was very dark, allowing the teenage archer to sneak his way around and take each kidnapper out one by one.

He had followed the footsteps of the horses that had carried the kidnappers in black and the girl.  Eventually it had led him to a cave where he assumed the people were to stay the night.

-What a pretty girl, too………

Ryo shook his head.  No.  He had business to do.  He knew two were already dead, at the expense of his friends' lives, so there were four more to take care of.  From about 150 yards away, he noticed a suspect standing at the entrance of the cave.  The darkness hid Ryo well, so he used it to his advantage.

He thought about it, and figured he would try a different approach.  He casually walked toward the guard, strolling, whistling to himself.

The guard, though, would have none of it.  He charged Ryo, preparing to draw a bow out with an arrow.

-Shit.

Ryo reached into his quiver and pulled out his bow and an arrow.  He armed the bow, and released before the other guy in black did.  His arrow flew with amazing accuracy as it got the guard directly in the middle of his chest.  The man fell backward instantly, then breathed no more.

He approached the dead man.  He had a little blood trickling out from the wound, but the arrow was blocking the flow.  Ryo carefully stripped the man of his clothes, used some water from the canteen to wash the blood off, and put the robes on himself.  This was Ryo.  He was a master of disguise.

He walked casually into the cave, trying to find a way to get the girl out of there.  He weaved around loose rocks, sharp turns, until he came to an open room.  There stood a man in black, watching the beautiful girl, who was tied up in a chair.  Two others were sleeping on the ground.  Ryo spoke up.  "Ahem."

The man that was still awake did not turn around.  "You don't fool me, Akiyama."

-Huh?

The guy chuckled.  "Listen to this girl.  She screams.  She squirms.  Much like, 'her', don't you think?"

-It can't be………

"Messino, you bastard.  I guess you haven't forgotten about her, have you?"

"So have you, Akiyama."  The man, assumed known as Messino, laughed.  "It's almost familiar how something like this could bring back memories.  This was the exact same situation, was it not?  So what are you going to do?"

Ryo looked at him, then at the girl.  She sat there, tied up, helpless, crying.  It was too much like before.  "I………I don't know………"

Messino shook his head.  "You're still the same, Akiyama.  So hopeless to help her, I guess I'll have to make the first move."  The middle-aged man snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the two men stood up and picked up the swords that lay next to them.  Messino, meanwhile, had a sword of his own, and he threw it toward Ryo, who snatched it.  "I kind of like this situation.  If you can defeat these two guards of mine, then you can have the girl.  Me?  I'm not going to watch this, though I would be missing out."  The guy turned around and disappeared into the shadows, which Ryo assumed that an exit was there.

Jeri looked at the guy who was trying to save her.

-Who is he?  And why does he care about me?

"Be careful, whoever you are!"  She called to the guy.

Ryo smiled.  At least she was rooting for him.  He held his sword up, ready to defend against the two guards who approached him.  The fire was shining brightly, so the four in the room had clear sight of each other.

The guard on the right acted first.  He swung his sword at Ryo, but the teenager grabbed hold of his strong wrist and twisted it around, breaking it instantly and making him dropping the sword.  The other guard, meanwhile, tried to get in a cheap shot, but Ryo responded with a back kick with his left foot into the stomach of the black robed guy, who had his breath taken from him.  He focused his attention on that guy as he gave him an elbow straight in the face, knocking him out.

The guy with the broken wrist tried to retaliate, but he could not pick his sword up.  Ryo walked up to him, kicked the sword away from the ground, then kicked the guy in the face, his body sprawling to the dirt ground.

Ryo smiled, proud of accomplishing his latest victory.  He looked at the girl, who was also smiling.

-She's more beautiful than what I had seen before.

He strayed from her face directly to her eyes.  Those pretty balls, staring innocence right at him.  This was it.  He slowly lowered his mouth towards hers………

"Ouch!"  He exclaimed as he felt a backhand to the side of his face.  He felt it, testing his mouth for breakage, then looked back at her.  "I guess we'll take this slowly," he admitted.

She nodded.  "Yes, we will."