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Akaashi Keiji stood on the battlefield. At this moment, he understood why it was called a battlefield. He was standing alone surrounded by bodies. There was one body, still fresh, with blood slowly seeping out into a puddle right underneath where a stab wound stood.

He looked around the field; he was the only one there—beside the dead bodies. To his left, was a forest that had trees stand at 100 feet tall. Akaashi squinted his eyes through the trees. Still dazed from battle, he slowly walked towards the figure.

His head was pounding. As far he knew, nothing dangerous lurked in the forest. The only thing he could think of was the Witches. The Witches that were exiled from the mainland, only because one witch had plotted against the kingdom.

As he walked closer, he saw that the figure was a girl. She was wearing a white cape that was button in the front and arm holes through the sides. Her hood was drawn over her (H/C) which casketed a little ways past her chest. Her hair covered face of her face. She was looking directly at Akaashi.

She looked around the battlefield. Her face remained neutral, but her eye widened in horror. She rushed over to Akaashi and caught him just as he lost consciousness.

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Akaashi looked around the cramped room. It felt as if he was laying down in a massive hollowed out log. He sat up. His arm stung from wielding his sword for hours during battle.

"You should rest. You're still healing from battle," the girl said. "You don't want to worsen your injuries; otherwise, you might not heal at all."

"Thank you," Akaashi said. Even though the girl had giving him a warning, he sat up anyways.

"You're welcome."

Akaashi nodded. "Do I get to know the name of the savior?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him and took a step closer. "Do I get to know the name of the person I saved?"

Akaashi smirked and shook his head. "Akaashi Keiji, Knight of Fukurodani, in alliance with Karasuno, Neko—"

The girl raised her hand, making Akaashi stop in silence. "I asked for your name, not where your allegiance lies."

"Sorry," Akaashi said.

The girl nodded. "It's fine. My name is (Y/N) (L/N). If you were still wondering."

"Well, (Y/N), thank you. May I ask why you're living here instead in the borders of the kingdom?" he asked carefully.

"Are you sure you want to know?" (Y/N) asked. She took a step closer to Akaashi, eyeing him carefully. "If you're a knight, then you might think of me differently if I tell you."

"It's okay, I want to know."

(Y/N) lips curled into a smile. She held up her hand and fog started coming out as if it appeared out of nowhere. The room felt like it dropped a few degrees, making Akaashi shiver. A piece of ice formed out of her hand and hovered a few centimeters above it. (Y/N) closed her hand and the ice and fog disappeared.

Akaashi shifted from the bed and stood up cautiously. He took a few steps back, his back facing the door. "Y—you're a witch."

The smile on (Y/N)'s face dropped. "I'm not the witch who was plotting against the kingdom, for your information. Also, you would be quite dim if you thought that because it happened before I was born."

"I wasn't thinking that," Akaashi snapped. His tone was harsher than he meant it to. "I wasn't thinking that," he said again gently.

(Y/N) took a deep breath in and stepped back.

"No parents?" he asked trying to change the subject. He took another step back. One step closer to the door.

(Y/N) could tell what he was doing, she could see the fear growing in his eyes, but didn't stop him. Everyone is allowed to their own opinions on witches.

(Y/N) shook her head. "Died when I was 10."

Akaashi looked behind him. Night had fallen. It was pitch black, only the stars and the moon were visible. "I should get going, the king would be waiting for me."

(Y/N) let out a low chuckle. "Out there is a field full of dead people. What makes you think that your king would expect your arrival by sending you into a battle where you would most likely die?"

Akaashi scowled. "Are you questioning my king?"

(Y/N) sighed and shook her head. "No, I'm not, but I think you really should. You're welcome to leave if you want, but I must warn you, animals and knights roam the forest. So, if you chose to leave, then proceed with caution, Knight Akaashi Keiji."

(Y/N) bowed her head and heading into another room. Right when the door closed, Akaashi looked around for his sword and shield. He found them leaning on the edge of the wall. His sword was sharpened and his shield polished.

His shoulders burned as his lifted his sword and shield. He took one last look around the place and left for the woods.

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(Y/N) wasn't wrong. A few minutes after he had left, he spotted a torch that burned brightly in the nighttime and he could hear the howling of wolves.

"Hey! You! Stop right there!" One of the knights shouted. Akaashi froze for a second. His first instinct was to stand and fight, but, for once, his brain told him to run and he listened.

He ran.

Arrows flew past his head as the knights shouted for him to stop. His lungs burned as Akaashi ran for his life—literally.

One bad step and he felt his right leg crumble underneath him. As he fell, his head hit the ground making him feel dizzy, the ground was shifting from under him.

Suddenly, the once warm forest felt ice cold. Akaashi turned onto his back and saw a white cape standing in front of him.

(Y/N).

She stood in front of him with a steady stream of ice flowing from her hand. The knights had stopped attacking.

A wall of ice was now standing in between the knights and (Y/N).

"Go!" (Y/N) shouted.

When she turned to face Akaashi, her once warm (E/C) had turned an ice blue.

"Go!"

Akaashi hesitated. He sat up and onto his feet. The ice wall must have been thick because the other side wasn't visible, only the burry red flame of the touch could be seen by the eye.

"No, I'm staying. You can't possibly handle all of those knights on your own," he said, drawing his sword from the belt that hung from his side.

(Y/N) snorted. "And this wall of ice just appeared out of nowhere! I can handle myself; I've done it for six years."

"I'm not leaving."

(Y/N) drew her hand from the wall and stumbled back slightly. She hasn't used much of her magic, only in times of need. "Fine. If you will not leave, then we might as well fight."

"We? No. I'll do it, the wall will be good cover for me to go around and have a surprise attack on them. You should go back to your hollowed out log," he insisted.

Raising her eyebrow, (Y/N) smirked. "Look, I get it. Your all knightly and whatever, but remember the last time you went against my word? We ended up here. And to be honest, you wouldn't last a minute without me. So, I ask you this, would you rather fight with me, or die keeping your pride?"

Akaashi stared at her. No one has ever talked to him like she had, challenging his every word. In the kingdom, everyone looked up to the knights and treated them with the utmost respect. It was considered that challenging the word of a knight was to challenge the word of the king.

"What's the plan?"

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"I'm not killing anyone! I've never killed and I won't start now just because someone told me so!" (Y/N) whisper shouted at Akaashi.

"If we don't kill them, then they will kill us," he said.

"How about..."

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Akaashi raised his sword as (Y/N) raised her hands. In a moment, the ice wall was gone.

There were screams and shouts as Akaashi managed to disarm some of the knights. Once he did (Y/N) frozen them in place. Their entire body was covered head to toe with ice.

"Is that the last one?" Akaashi asked as he leaned up against the tree.

The forest was now completely dark. "Yeah, I think so." Even though her voice was steady, it was hard talking to someone who you couldn't see.

"So, are they going to stay frozen forever?"

(Y/N) shook her head. "No. Not forever. They would either defrost or my magic will wear off."

"Okay."

The silence in the forest was eerie. "You should go. Your king might send some knights to the battlefield to see if there are any survivors. If you keep walking straight then you should reach the field."

"You...you should come with me," Akaashi said. His voice was gently and genuine. "I'll tell the king that you helped me and maybe he'll show you kindness."

(Y/N) laughed. It wasn't a bitter one, but one filled with amusement. "That's very kind of you, but I doubt that would happen. I'm sure that your king could be...kind...at times, but I don't think that this is one of those times. Maybe one day that would happen, but for now we must go our separate ways."

(Y/N) turned to leave, but stopped. She turned to face Akaashi, or in the general direction that she thought he was. She held out her hand, and formed a piece of ice shaped like a crystal appeared. It filled the dark forest with light. Now knowing where she can go, (Y/N) stepped forward towards Akaashi.

"Take it. It will lead you out of the forest, and give you light when you feel dark," (Y/N) said and offered the crystal to him.

Their hands touched briefly as Akaashi took the crystal. The light did not dim, but grew a bit brighter.

"Thank you," Akaashi said.

(Y/N) bowed her head. "It was a pleasure to meet you Knight Akaashi."

Akaashi smiled, for what felt like the first in a long time. "The pleasure was all mine, (Y/N)."

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