[Hand in Hand, We Run Away] by Yuuki Rafflesia - Scarlet System

"Hurry up! Don't let her get away!" the guards shout behind me as I run into the darkness of the forest as fast as my long, lifted dress will allow. As the last morsel of sunlight disappears from view, I force my legs to speed up. I've got to do this tonight. I can't let my bastard father's marriage plans go through.

As I get deeper into the forest, I hear a growl. I keep running, at this point it's too dark to see any potential threats. After a bit, I hear a whimper, then trip and fall into a cavern between some tree trunks. I try to stand up, but my leg won't respond. "Goddamnit!" I shout.

I hear some rustling in the bushes surrounding me. Yep, alright. I'm done for. I close my eyes and prepare for the worst, but then a soft "Y-You okay?" leaks from the bushes.

My eyes open by themselves and stare at the beautiful young lady sitting in the bushes, poking her head out at me, only visible because of the fireflies surrounding her. On closer inspection though, it seems she's not human; rather, part of a species called Plantfolk. I finally cease my shock and reply "my leg won't move but besides that I'm fine I guess."

"O-Oh, that'll be the work of the Parax Leaves in this area then. They're pretty strong around these parts. Don't worry, the impact on humans should lessen in about ten minutes."

Ten minutes, huh. Plenty of time for the guards to catch up, damnit. In other news, wow she's super knowledgeable. "Ah, thanks. I guess this kind of knowledge comes with being a Plantfolk, huh?"

She pats the ground around my side of the bush she's hiding in. "For just about everywhere else with this kind of wildlife? Yeah, for sure. But this place is human territory; we can't just waltz on in here without consequences. I mean, I'm injured too."

"Is that why you're down here too?"

"Yeah, it seems this is the only safe place to ingrain around here."

"Ingrain? I don't remember seeing that in the history books."

"It's just how we Plantfolk heal our bodies; my leg got ripped off by a wolf earlier, but if I ingrain it'll grow back in about an hour, I think. Can hardly move during that time though; think of it like a plant growing temporary roots."

"Ah, okay cool! It's so interesting learning new things about other inhabitants of our world."

She looks shocked to say the least. "Y-You're not gonna attack me?"

"Huh? You what now?"

"I thought humans were just, y-y'know, racist assholes? I'm pretty sure that's the phrase, anyway."

I chuckle a bit before mellowing down. "Unfortunately, yeah that's how the vast majority of us are. The original reason I ran away was because my father forbade learning about the world outside human territory. Not that I cared; I still did, but I don't know what he'd do to me if he  were to find out."

"S-So you're a runaway too?"

My eyes light up. "Yup! Nice to know I'm not alone in that regard."

"My parents don't exactly take kindly to other civilisations either, especially not humans. I mean, we have a long history of our powers being abused so I feel it's justified."

"Yeah, totally understandable. Not gonna lie, I don't really like other humans either; all self-centred pieces of shit if you ask me. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only decent one."

"I can see that."

I smile at her, but then a sudden pain jolts through my leg. I cry out in pain, looking for something to create a cast for my leg with. I see some leaves to my side near where I fell down, but as I go to grab them, she yells out. "Don't use those!"

I look over to her with tears in my eyes. She extends an arm to me. "Cut this off and use it!"

"B-But won't that like, really hurt?"

"Of course it will! But I can't have you using any other leaves, especially not the ones by the entrance; those expand upon touch and spray poison if broken! It's not worth the risk! It'll take another hour or so to heal, but I know you humans don't have that level of regenerative capabilities."

"Fine, if you're sure."

I position my good leg underneath her outstretched arm, push down on it and rip with my other hand. She screams and cries, but once I've got our makeshift cast working, she looks almost more relieved than anything else. But then I hear voices from outside our cavern. "Princess? Oh, Princess? Where are you? The King is immensely worried! Come back quietly now, will you?"

"Wait, you're the Princess?" The Plantfolk girl is clearly surprised.

I whisper "Yeah, hard to believe I know, but be quiet for a bit please!"

The guards look around a bit before one of them shines a torch down into the cavern. Just as he reaches down to slice open the cavern, the other guard shouts "Idiot! Don't you know those plants spew poison when cut? The Princess could be down there! We'll get an even bigger earful if she were to come back harmed so close to her wedding!"

They debate some more before eventually deciding to move on to searching elsewhere. "Okay, you can talk again now."

"Yay, finally!" the Plantfolk girl happily proclaims.

"You know, I never asked your name; would you mind?" I ask as I crawl over to her and reach out my arm.

She blushes ever so slightly. "It's Yuuha!"

I blush back. "Okay then Yuuha, I'm Laura! Nice to meet you, fellow runaway!"

"Laura, huh." She seems to be lost in thought for a while. "What a lovely name! Also, I overheard some others talking a while back about a multicultural town not too far from here. I was actually planning on heading there as soon as I'd healed, so would you like to come along too?"

"I'd love to! That sounds just like what I'm looking for!"

She grabs my hand and enthusiastically shakes it. "Great! What do you say if we head off at dawn?"

"Works for me!" We smile back at each other.

In the morning, now that the sun is rising once again, Yuuha and I hold each other's hands as we walk off into the horizon. She's been smiling constantly since last night; such a joy to behold. But I can't help but wonder; I swear I've met her before?