Without any prior warning, the two completely different worlds collided against each other. It didn't make any sense for the two of them to meet.
According to the lives they hailed from, they were never likely to meet.
But tonight was special with a full moon lighting the world. It was a unique super moon and everything during such a moon would be quite possible.
Leo's horse neighed all of sudden, breaking apart the serenity moment Leo was having. Before Leo could react, the horse darted like an arrow, jumping over the small stream and galloped over the bushes.
And all of sudden it hit something so hard that Leo even felt himself about to fall. If not for his love to ride this horse more than sleeping in his bed he would have fallen.
"What the hell... Mark, are you hungry or what?" he couldn't help but pat the anxious horse on the side of the neck in a try to calm the horse down.
Yet after the horse stopped his bizarre act, he recalled what he felt.
"Did you hit a rock or a fallen branch of a tree?"
He didn't even know the answer. So he got off the horse. He went back several steps before he found something that he never expected.
On the far corner, just beside the bush his horse darted through and next to the stream of water he spotted something that wasn't any similar to a rock or a tree.
It was obviously a human being. As he stood his place motionless with shocked expression over his face, his eyes started to assess the situation further.
That human being, whoever he or she was, lurked in the ground. That person seemed to be hit from his horse, something he already was aware of yet didn't believe so far.
And most of that human's body was already hidden inside the bushes, leaving only part of the curled back and two slim and motionless legs appearing in front of him.
"Damn!" he couldn't help but curse to himself, "hey, are you… alright?"
He didn't know what to do but ask. He gave his horse, Mark, a very reprimanding look. A warning for a punishment later on for that reckless move.
Leo approached in hesitation while bowing to see more of that person.
"She's a girl!" Leo mumbled to himself in obvious shook. "And she… you… look hurt," he felt some regret and guilt for what happened to this poor girl.
Yet his voice despite being so near couldn't get any response from the girl. "That's a bad sign," he threw all the cautious and hesitation he had before jumping over the girl to examine her.
She was a simple girl in simple country clothes. "Poor thing…" he muttered while noticing that she must be a dweller of a nearby village.
Out of her poor clothes he had no other conclusion but that. However he didn't find any reason to make such a simple girl be outside in such a night and all alone in such a forest.
The weather was cold, something that didn't even bring the thought of having a bonfire.
The horse neighed in a defensive way like he was trying to avoid any possible punishment from his master.
"Don't do that," Leo pointed his finger in warning towards the horse, "this is your fault and you have to answer to this."
"Neigh!"
The horse seemed not to be content with that decision of his master and kept moving his head restlessly like objecting to this unjust.
"Just stop," Leo wanted some silence, "I'm trying to wake her up. Can't you see?"
Prince Leo stayed a few moments gazing up at the face of the girl. She was breathing irregularly. "At least she is breathing,". Leo said to himself while looking at her in silence.
"What should I do?" he asked himself before turning to the horse, "what should I do?"
"Neigh!"
"No, that can't be appropriate, right?" Leo smirked as he shook his head rejecting what he imagined his horse was saying. "I can't just… kiss her out of the blue.
She might wake up and see me like this. What would she say at me at that moment? A pervert?"
"Neigh!"
"Stop it," Leo stood up while holding the girl in his arms, "I won't kiss her even if you pushed me to do this."
She was thin like an angel. Her petite face seemed so childish at this moment, a sleeping angel he was holding in his arms.
"Time to wake you up, little angel," he softly whispered while her head was placed carefully beside his.
Then he let his body fall in the shallow stream of water running near him, soaking his clothes with cold water.
But he didn't refuse that. All he did was to sit on his kneels, letting her body glide slowly to sit on the side of the stream without getting touched with any water.
"Neigh!"
"I told you," he shouted back at the stubborn horse, "I won't kiss her!"
"Neigh!"
"You'll see how I wake her up," Leo shouted without turning his head away from the girl's. As he was reassured that her body lied comfortably now on the side of the stream, he let her hands free, leaned over the stream and… filled both hands with water.
Then carefully like a boy caring for his girl he let the water fall slowly over her face.
"Neigh!"
"Don't worry, she will wake up," he shouted at the anxious horse, "even my body trembled undet the coldness of this water. She will wake up soon, count on me for that."
"Neigh!"
"I don't like that unconfident tone you are talking with."
"Neigh!"
"Screw you."
Leo gave in for letting his horse understand what he was doing, and started to wash the girl's face with the cold water.
He could already feel the fine trembles in her body. "See? It's working. If you just stood on your four legs and waited patiently like any loyal horse then you would have seen my trick work."
"Neigh!"
"I'm not bluffing! Who told you that?"
"Neigh!"
"Shut up and let me wake her," Leo then refilled his palms with water before emptying them slowly over her face.
And the next moment the girl's body was jolted violently that she even had to sit up half way before sneezing and coughing.
"Easy there," he hurriedly left the stream and supported her body before seeing her eyes.
"Such a beautiful eyes that could enchant a man with a heart like me," he slowly muttered without knowing what he was saying or why.
Yet he felt some sort of traction, connection that went beyond the limits of the time and space between him and that girl.
Leo was feeling something awkward. His heartbeat was rising abnormally. Despite the cold weather, he was sweating very hard. His ears became too red.
He was breathing like he was climbing a mountain. That was painful. He started to feel a seed of mysterious passion in his heart. His chest was hurting.
He felt something like a needle pricking his heart. He never felt like this before. He kept looking at the about to be awake angel without saying a word.
It was for a brief moment, or even much shorter than that. However he would never forget that moment for the rest of his life.
"Let me put you there."
He put her back on the nearby tree. As he stood there, he kept gazing up at her face. Slight rosy she became with more life appearing at her features than before.
All she needed was more time to wake up and then she could leave and depart. Despite that he didn't feel any happiness inside.
"Is it weird for me to feel this pain when thinking of her leaving?" he couldn't help but look at his horse and the answer he got was a shook of Mark's head.
It was a few minutes before she opened her eye.
The girl opened her eye slowly and quietly.
Leo's face showed a warm smile.
"Hi," said Leo.
The girl was feeling pain all over her body. Unintentionally they moved her hand to touch the back of her head and rub it for a few moments. Her facial features indicated how much pain she was feeling.
"Ah," the girl said.
"What happened?" Leo hurriedly asked with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Apparently not," the girl tried to stand up but she felt a sudden assault of dizziness that made her unable to even push herself away of the tree. "What happened to me?" she asked while closing up her eyes for a few seconds, in an attempt to control such an excruciating pain.
"Well… I'll you what happened but first… Let me know your name," Leo slowly said with much anticipation. He wanted to know her name, at least. In fact he wanted to know more than just her name.
"My… name?" the girl looked up to him while trying to remember.