Third Person's POV

          Their walk continued as they took the route to where the shortcut is based on what Yosetsu said. The surroundings made the princess feel a bit uncomfortable and skeptical. The more they walked through the path, the darker the place got due to the thick threes covering the sunny blue sky.

"So Yosetsu, why did you wanted me to prepare my sword for when crossing here?" Momo asked.

"Well...it's because there's some...scary monsters lurking here..." He said, his nervousness can be heard in his tone.

"Like what? I'm sure they aren't that bad-"

Awase stopped in his tracks which made Yaoyorozu stop talking, confused to why he suddenly stopped.

"Umm...is something wrong..??"

          They've already went far enough and deep into the thick forest, it was a bit dark but somehow Awase is able to sense something.

Then, Yaoyorozu suddenly felt something tied onto her ankle. She flinched as she checked to see what it was.

It looked like one of the roots of the trees.

Yosetsu immediately noticed it and brought out his sword and slashed it of her ankle. The princess shaked of her ankle to remove the remaining roots off of her.

"What are those??" She asked him.

Soon, the trees that they were being surrounded by had their thick roots growing out of the ground and extending the lengths to reach the two of them.

          Awase slashed another root that was coming for him as he explained, "These trees are called the Root Stranglers. Anyone who passes by them, they get trapped and die here cause the their roots aim to strangle their necks until they're out of breath." He slashed another one.

Momo brought out her sword and helps Awase to destroy the roots of the trees, "But why did we take this path then?? Isn't there another route to pass through this??"

"Nope! This while route is covered with these crap so the only way to get through is to just cut their roots and run." He replied.

The roots kept growing and growing. No matter how much they cut, they would regenerate instantly.

"We gotta run!!" Awase said to Momo.

She agreed and they soon were on the run, slashing every root that came in their way as the ones behind them started to chase the two.

Yaoyorozu's heart was rapidly pacing, as the situation became more comolicated as soon as she looked back and nkticed how the roots were following them so fast.

How long can these trees stretch out their roots?!?! This is terrifying!!, she screamed in her head.

          Princess Momo was lucky to bring her sword with her, as she was prepared that something like this would happen. However, these types of things isn't something she always gets used to especially when monsters or magical beings can regenerate like those trees.

Yosetsu and Momo continued to slash and cut their way out. They were able to make progress as theur distance between the roots behind them weren't very close to them.

Until...

Yaoyorozu accidentally tripped on a rock and fell on the ground.

"Momo! Are you okay?! Can you still walk?" Yosetsu asked her in worry, running up to her side. He carried her and placed Yaoyorozu on his back and gave her a piggyback ride.

"I-I'm alright..but...I can't seem to move my right ankle." She hissed in pain.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Awase smiled reassuringly as he took her sword and closed it in, putting in his pocket.

He grabbed his sword again and noticed that the roots were gaining on them.

Awase cursed under his breath and started to run, making sure to not drop the princess despite carrying her with one arm.

          Luckily, Yosetsu didn't had a hard time cutting through the roots and eventually, they made it out of the spooky forest filled with the Root Stranglers.

Once he made out to the clear sunny sky, the roots slowly retracted and went back to the forest.

Both Awase and Yaoyorozu panted from the run.

"Phew, that was scary.." Awase said.

"How come the roots didn't chase us anymore?" The princess asked.

"Their power doesn't work when there's light. That's why those trees are huge and thick because of their power." Yosetsu explained, "Now come on, let's check your ankle."

"Okay....thank you...for saving me back there.." She said shyly, a blush creeping onto her face slightly.

"Of course! Having you injured was not I wanted in my agenda anyway." Awase chuckled.

She giggled as she tightened her grip on the man as they both went somewhere safe for him to check Princess Yaoyorozu's injuries.

Time skip...

          Yaomomo hissed in pain, as Awase tries to gently help her sprained ankle. The princess was sitting on a rock in a forest that had some light coming through and they were near no dangerous areas.

Yosetsu bandaged her ankle to help stop from bleeding and to hope that it will help heal in a short time.

"I'm so sorry I got you into this mess, your majesty. I didn't mean to get you into pain." Awase apologized to her.

"Don't be sorry Yosetsu. I wanted to go to the shortcut and my injuries are my responsibility. Besides, I'm used to getting wounds and broken bones so it's not a problem. I'm just glad you were there to protect me from the creepy forest." Yaoyorozu softly smiled at the thief.

The criminal looked back at her and smiled back as well.

          Their eyes locked and the princess was now stuck in his trance. She didn't even turn her head around or break the eye contact, all she knew was that she liked the feeling insude of her whenever he looks at Awase or he looks at her back.

They both soon realized what just happened and immediately turned their heads, blushing furiously and were flustered by what just happened.

"S-Sorry.." She apoligized.

"N-No no it's o-okay.." Yosetsu nervously chuckled.