Following the Forbidden Footsteps into the Unknown.

Chapter One; The beginning of a life infused with unforgettable torment.

I had let my body relax into her arms, the bleeding slowly began to stop as my body stopped moving. After a few moments, my breathing had returned to normal. "We can't stay here, she'll surely find us again. We have to move and fast." I said. She pulled me to my feet, and we started running. "I'll get this patched up when we reach the manor." I said to myself as I lead Laenaya through the forest, and out of the shadows protective veil. Our speed reached a running pace, the gleaming of the silver gates almost blinding us for a moment. We were nearly there, we had almost reached where we needed to be. The manor hadn't been used in centuries. They wouldn't look here for us, and I knew it for a fact. "Go through the gates and up the driveway, I'll meet you at the front door." I whispered into her ear. She crept through the opening in the gates, and shot up the drive. I searched the bushes along the side of the wall thoroughly, before coming to a blank spot with an almost shiny appearance. "That's where the key is. I know it." My hands tidily wrenched the soil up within seconds, after discovering the key I patted the soil back down and shot up over the wall, making my way up the drive to the front door.

The key fit the lock perfectly, I twisted the key clockwise until I heard two echoed clicks. Laenaya pushed the handle down, walked in through the doorway and after removing the key, I followed through the doorway and as I pushed the inner handle down, I brushed the door closed. "That should be better, we're safe for now." I said. My tail flickered about behind my body anxiously, looking towards her. "Can we go up to bed?" Laenaya asked quietly, in an almost hushed tone. I locked the front door, slipped my hand into her own and lead her up the spiraling staircase. The master bedroom was just ahead, there were several other bedrooms lined down the upper corridor hallway. I lead her to the second bedroom down the hall, the bedroom to the left of the master bedroom. She halted herself and turned to face me. "Minato.. I-.. I don't like sleeping alone.. W-Would..-" She blushed, and went silent before finishing her sentence. "Would you like to sleep with me, then?" I asked, with a smile plastered upon my face. She nodded several times and shuffled close to me as I led her into the master bedroom, closing the doors to the chamber as we passed through the entrance.

It had just turned midnight, we both lay awake under the covers of the bed sheet. We were still awake, but that wasn't unusual, it was more or less to do with a sincere disturbance in the atmosphere. We were sat up, glancing to and from each other. "I wonder what's causing this disturbance.. It's never felt like this before and most certainly never when Laenaya was here with me." I thought quietly to myself. She turned to look at me as if she knew what was bothering me. "Minato, what is it that's bugging you? You seem incredibly distracted tonight." she asked with a subtle frown across her face. "N-Nothing! Why would you even think that? I'm not doing anything." I followed, abruptly. "Exactly." She replied without a moments hesitation.

Again, I felt my heart sink down to the bottom of my chest. I didn't know how to respond to her. "I guess I'm just concerned about you and everything else that's gone on. I couldn't exactly forget about the past events that have left a devastatingly painful scar on my heart." I whispered, softly. She simply pulled my head to her chest, and ran her fingers through my hair. She always told me that everything would be okay eventually. Whenever eventually was, I didn't know. But, it felt as though the pain would be there for an eternity. Like it would never leave me alone. She continued to run her fingers through my long, black hair, down to the top of my spinal cord and back up through my hair. "It'll be okay, Minato. I promise you that. I'll make sure of it." Laenaya whispered softly, into my ear. "You're still healing too, so you can't do anything to rational. But, I'll look after you." She then continued. I felt useless. Due to my still healing injury, I knew I couldn't do anything rational. "I was supposed to be the one protecting her! Not her protecting me, I mean.. I promised her I would protect her no matter what. And I will keep that promise!" Just like she said, I knew what to do. But, she was right. I am still healing, and there's definitely nothing I can do to speed up the healing process now. I did all I could before we got even here. Laenaya had reached down to the bottom drawer of the bed-side table, and pulled it open to reveal a first aid kit. Which she then proceeded to open and remove a set of bandages from. She'd asked me to sit up straight, which I did. I felt the padding of the gauze she had placed against my stomach, to cover the rapidly tearing wound I had suffered not even 5 hours before, tighten against my skin as she proceeded to bandage my stomach. A few minutes later and she was done. She put the first aid kit back into the bottom drawer of the bed-side table, pushed me down onto my back, and cuddled up to me. Even if there was a disturbance, it wasn't my problem. "Minato, please don't do anything rational. You shouldn't even be moving in your condition." She stated in a soft tone. I was glad she was worrying about me, it meant that she really did care for me.