Captured Princess

Got Lost

“And that’s what happened,”

Shanaia said as she finished telling her uncles what happened back home and the reason they were sent there.

“Well, we understand that you kids tend to party and it was pretty normal. But partying despite the risk of danger, that is something we adults fear.” Stephen said and Styx nodded in agreement.

“Like I said uncle, I wasn’t even at the party. I just went there to help,” she reasoned.

“Yes, that is true. But at the same time, your parents saw something that alarmed them,” Styx said and Shanaia remembered how she killed the rogues.

“They said I was overkilling the rogues,” she mumbled.

Both her uncles pressed their lips in a thin line.

“That’s why Sahara sent you here. Father can teach you things that can help you with your problem,” Stephen said.

Shanaia looked at him.

“But uncle, is it really a problem?” she asked, and then both of her uncles nodded.

“Shanaia, overkilling makes you more of a villain. It's like you completely disregard the person, you disrespect them, making you more of the villain instead of the hero,” Styx said.

“But they were rogues, they are the enemies,” she argued.

“They are, yes, but you are not. We are noble warriors, we have a conscience and good soul that’s why we protect, we don’t m******e like them,”

Shanaia looked at Stephen after he spoke.

“Don’t worry. Father will teach you well and you will soon understand.”

**************************.

After Shanaia’s talk with her uncles over coffee and some snacks, she decided to take a walk around the tribe’s territory before lunch. Like earlier inside the main house, she can still feel people’s eyes on her as she walks around.

Most of the people in the tribe haven’t seen other kinds of shifters since they are exclusively living within the tribal territory and rarely explore beyond their borders. And her having a different scent than the others piqued their interest and curiosity. And somehow it reminded her of how her cousins see and treat her. It really upsets her.

Shanaia just ignored them again and kept her head down as she walked. She walks around, with what happened in the no man’s land occupying her mind. She replayed everything that happened there and she couldn’t see anything wrong with what she had done. She just did what she had to do to survive and to save those who needed saving.

Moments like that, she envies her cousins as they have their Lycans to speak with. She was of age to finally get her Lycan spirit like her cousins, but somehow there wasn’t a voice in her head or even a presence.

‘I could really use someone to talk to at this time,’ she thought.

She was so deep in her thought that she wasn’t watching where she was going or where she stepped as she got tripped over a protruding rock. Shanaia lost her footing but fortunately, her reflexes were fast enough to use her arm to balance herself by grabbing on the nearest tree branch.

She cursed when she felt a sting in her hand. As she steadied herself, she let go of the tree branch and then she looked at her palm. It was bleeding from a scratch when she hurriedly grabbed onto the tree branch.

Shanaia gritted her teeth as she looked around in search of something to clean her wound since there was dirt and small pieces of wood embedded top her flesh. She needs to remove them before her wound heals.

She then saw a stream and she hurried there to wash her wound with water. She sat by the edge and she dipped her wounded hand into the cold running water. She let the water wash away the blood and when she pulled out her hand, her wound immediately closed, all healed.

Shanaia let out a sigh of relief and then she looked at her surroundings. That is when she realized that she had wandered away from the main roads of the tribal territory. She isn’t familiar with the place and she fears that she is lost.

“Great. You got yourself lost, Shanaia.” She told herself.

She tried to retrace her steps but somehow, it felt like she just went farther from where she should go. She then halted her steps as she came across a huge statue of a cheetah in the middle of the stream. She didn’t know there was ever a statue within the territory, in fact, it was the only statue of the cheetah that she had seen in the tribe.

Shanaia felt familiar with the image of the statue, but she dismissed it as she was more concerned by the fact that she was lost. She then huffed and put her hands on her hips.

“Is anyone there? Hello!” she hollered and all she could hear were chirps of birds.

“I’m kind of lost, can anyone point the way back to the main house?”

She continued to call out but there was no response. Fearing that she was alone in the middle of nowhere, she heaved several deep breaths to calm herself.

“Calm down, Shanaia. Calm down and think,” she told herself.

She looked around and tried to remember anything that she somehow saw, a landmark or a sign that could help her get back. Unfortunately, there was nothing but the canyon and some trees.

“Great, just great.”

She grumbled.

“Are you lost?”

Shanaia turned around when she heard a female voice coming from behind her. She then let out a sigh of relief when she saw a woman standing there. The woman, despite wearing an old and tattered dress common among the tribe members, was beautiful with her white hair and fair skin. Her blue eyes were sharp like a cat and her body looked like it was sculpted by the gods.

Shanaia was so enchanted by her beauty that she ended up gawking at her. When Shanaia realized what she was doing, she cleared her throat and smiled at the woman.

“Uhm, hi. Are you from around here? I think I’m lost. Do you know the way back to the main house?” Shanaia asked the woman.

The woman smiled at her.

“You can never be lost when your feet know where to take you,” the woman spoke and her voice was cool yet soft.

Shanaia furrowed her eyebrows as she couldn’t understand what the woman meant by that.

“Uhm, no kidding lady. I was really lost and I couldn't find my way back to the main house. My uncles could be looking for me,” Shanaia said and the woman smiled.

“You look just by your eyes, try looking by not looking,”

The woman said and Shanaia gave her a deadpan look. She couldn’t really understand what she meant.

“Lady, I am in no mood for any riddles. Just point in the right direction and I’ll be out of your hair,” Shanaia said.

The woman smiled and then she looked to her right. Shanaia looked towards that direction and she saw a footpath. She then smiled as it looked promising.

“Thanks, Lady –“

Shanaia spoke, stopping midsentence when she looked back at the woman and it was no longer there.

“Where did she go?” she mumbled as she looked around.

Then she heaved a deep sigh.

“Oh well. Thanks for your help, lady!” she yelled before she made her way towards the direction of the footpath.

She walked for a few minutes and soon, she was back within the territory and was now standing in front of the main house. Shanaia let out a sigh of relief that she is finally back.

“Where were you?”

She looked towards the main house’s doorway and saw Crane marching towards her.

“I got lost while walking around the territory,” Shanaia answered and Crane gave her a look of disbelief as he stood in front of her.

“You? Lost? Are you kidding me? You don’t get lost, Shanaia. You can navigate this place with your eyes closed, that’s how you are good with direction, especially in this place. So, where were you? And why are you dirty?” Crane scolds her and Shanaia frowns.

“I was really lost.” She pressed.

Crane rolled his eyes. He just wouldn’t buy it that she was lost. She was gone for hours and like what he said earlier, his sister was good with directions and she knew the way around the territory like the back of her hand. So, her being lost was so hard to believe.

Shanaia noticed how her brother was looking at her and she frowned, followed by crossing her arms over her chest.

“You don’t believe me,” she spoke and Crane sighed.

“Look, it doesn’t matter if I believe you or not. What’s important is that you are here now. You should go back to your room and freshen up for dinner. Grandpa will be joining us,” Crane told her.

Shanaia was taken aback by what her brother said. Not because their grandfather was going to join them but because he said dinner.

“Dinner? You mean lunch?” she asked and Crane looked at her as if she grew another head.

“I said dinner because it’s time for dinner. You were gone for hours that you didn’t join Seb and me for lunch.” He told her.

Shanaia looked around and she could see the people around making their way back to their homes as the sky was starting to lose its bright sun. She couldn’t believe that she was gone that long when she felt like she was only gone for a few minutes.

“Come on now. We shouldn’t be late.” Crane said as he grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her inside the main house.

Shanaia went back to her room. She went straight into the bathroom and took a shower. Once she was under the cascading water of the shower, that’s when she realized that her arms and legs were covered with filth. She didn’t know how or why was she covered with dirt as she didn’t even remember rolling down the ground.

She then looked at her hand where she remembered getting injured earlier. There was no trace of it being injured since it was healed after she washed it with water. She stood under the shower thinking about the things that happened.

She was sure she lost her way when she was walking around. She remembered getting hurt and she even saw a statue in the middle of the stream. And also, the woman; the beautiful woman with white hair and blue eyes. Her beauty was so compelling that she felt like she was enchanted for a moment.

But then again, she didn’t look like someone who could enchant people as she looked ordinary aside from her beauty. Shanaia then shook her head and threw her head back and let the water hit her face. Thinking about what happened in the past hours is a mystery to her and thinking about her makes her head hurt.

Then she heard continuous knocking on her door.

“Hurry up! They are calling us down!”

Shanaia heard Crane’s voice coming from outside her room. Shanaia huffed and decided to think about it later and quickly finished showering so she wouldn’t be late for dinner.