For my Kingdom, For our Love

3 - "Safe" On His Land.

The pace had slowed down a lot, the horses at a galloping speed, allowing for the knights to have a small chat before crossing into the Hidden Forest. "Hey Tenma!" One knight called to him. "Yea?"

"What's that ring on your wedding finger for? You got a wife or something?" He asked, earning a laugh from a few of the others, Tsukasa included. He didn't even realise it could be seen that well when he was holding the reigns. "Nope! It's just.. for luck I suppose!".

Conversations like these were always great for lightening the mood, considering they were practically marching to their deaths. Not too long later, there it was. The pearly black gates that separated the two lands loomed over them. It took 3 men to push the gate open enough for entry, showing how heavy it really was. "From here on in, weapons at the ready, and sounds to a minimum, if splitting up is required, then do so" One of the knights that were around Tsukasa's age ordered, despite Tsukasa being captain, and it was his job to give orders. Tsukasa then noticed an orange haired figure riding closer towards him. "Tenma!- Well, Tsukasa" He called out. It was instantly known who was there now. "I just want to say, it's been a pleasure working alongside you, and I hope everything goes well for you" Akito said, quietly enough so that only Tsukasa could hear. "Likewise, Shino- Akito, I hope you find joy in your new kingdom". The two smiled at each other sincerely before Akito falsely drew his sword and charged off into the distant darkness of the woods. Within minutes, every knight was off fighting his own battle, either in groups or by themselves. The Hidden forest knights had been waiting, predicting every move the Asahina Kingdoms knights made. Swords were flung, arrows were shot and magic was used, only by the opposition of course. The Asahina kingdom never had access to magical materials or resources like many others, only select Kingdoms on the continent possessed that ability. The Hidden Forest, however, dominated the other magic Kingdoms by a milestone. They were the main suppliers of said resources, but then again, the forest was always very unpredictable, especially its inhabitants, always pulling out the randomest but most effective forms of defence. Even though they were not known to be very strong, being one of the weakest known armies, they always put up a good fight, too good of a fight.

The Asahina Kingdoms army was nearly wiped out, only half of the original soldiers still fighting. They needed backup.

But backup wouldn't be sent, this was a fight to the death, it was every man for himself.

Tsukasa wandered alone through the heavy darkness of the forest. Truth be told, he still felt as though the forest kingdom was like a maze, even though he had been there more than anyone. He had just single handedly defeated 3 opposing soldiers, and was starting to feel tired. Although he was only doing what he was sent for, he couldn't help but feel guilty. VERY guilty. "I lied to mom and Saki.. I'm a monster.. who does that to their family?! I'm such a bad son.. and I just took the lives of three innocent knights.. they have every right to be upset and attack us, we're on their land..." His thoughts of guilt were quickly interrupted by an arrow flying past him, missing his head by inches. "Who's there?" He called out urgently. "Take a wild guess, do we sound like pretty little Asahina kingdom boys?" A deep masculine voice called out. "Great.. another battle.." He sighed. "SHOW YOURSELVES" Tsukasa roared. 5 tall, handsome men stepped into his view. They wore black cloaks with red embroidery on them. At least he hoped it was embroidery..

"Aww! Wait, I know you! You're that suck up to the Queen, aren't you? Tenda or something?" One mocked. "It's Tenma and you better remember that" He boldly announced. "What are you going to do? Kick us and mess up your uniform? We know that you boys are very.. precious, when it comes to this stuff" Another knight mocked. Tsukasa clenched his fists and drew his sword from his back. "Fight me, all five of you, I'll end you all"

The soldiers laughed and all proceeded to draw their weapons. And it was on. A deadly sword battle between Tsukasa and the two of the other knights had commenced, while the other 3 stood back and watched. As per usual, the Hidden Forest knights put up a good fight, but Tsukasa wasn't about to give up so easily. Obtaining a few cuts and slashes, he had nearly gotten one of them on the ground, which obviously worried the others. "But he's the strongest of us, this guy is mad" He heard one say to another. "I'll handle this"

Suddenly, Tsukasa felt an unusual sensation in his stomach.. more specifically, an arrow, an arrow through his stomach. The other team were scared of how far this would go, so they shot him. Real classy. He had dropped his sword out of shock, so tried to grab it once more, but couldn't. He dropped to his knees, hunched over in pain. "How.. why?!"

"Because, our kingdom is worth more than just some random Asahina kingdom knight, anyway, see ya!"

The knights hurried back into the darkness as footsteps approached in the distance. Tsukasa's blood was spilling everywhere, and he lay there in agony. He, too, heard the footsteps, but was unable to make out whether it was his teammates or if they were-.

"Tsukasa?! Oh my goodness no.. it's me, don't worry, I've got you, don't worry, who did this to you?!"

Tsukasa couldn't recognise who was talking until he was in the person's arms and was able to make out the very familiar purple and turquoise hair. A sense of warmth and comfort filled him, making him forget about his pain for a few seconds.

"Rui..! You remember me!?" He smiled up to him softly. "Of course I do, I'm hardly going to forget my own husband now am I? And I see you haven't either, you still have the ring.. ah.. you're bleeding a lot, I need to get you back home" He hurried. Not the Asahina Kingdom as home, though. Rui's home, where he belonged. Another arrow was suddenly shot towards the two boys. "HEY?! You'd be fools to shoot your own leader, try it, I DARE you" Rui shouted. Apologies could be heard in response, but Rui didn't care. His main priority right now was taking care of Tsukasa. There were people everywhere, sounds of aggressive battles filled the air as they ran. "Oh crap.." Rui muttered. He found a thick, tall oak tree and laid Tsukasa up against it. "Tsukasa I'm sorry, I'll be right back, stay here"

"It's not like I can even move" Tsukasa grunted in a joking tone as Rui set him down. "I see you still have your sense of humour". Rui gave him a sincere look and kissed him on the forehead before running off, forming a spell as he ran.

Tsukasa tried to relax as he was sitting there. He was safe now. Rui had found him. He had been reunited with his beloved husband. He was okay.

"What do we have here?"

Or so he thought.