Her steps had taken her toward the territory's outskirts, along a path lined with tropical overgrowth that hung heavy above the well-worn trail carved by years of scampering paws. She did not know where they had come from, or what animals had traversed this jungle before Tianlong arrived, but she did not seem to care. If anything, she remained grateful for the paths that kept her paws secure along the earth and carefully placed so as to not fall from a spot of crumbling and softened earth.

An accidental fall would add to the stress already lining her shoulders; she could not have that.

However, it appeared that a misadventure of the earth was not on the docket for her to concern herself with. Instead, it was the scent of a stranger that drifted along the wind. One who smelled familiar, like the fermented berries that had stained her tongue and the cherry blossoms she used to covet before she had woken here.

Curious, she ventured in that unfamiliar direction.

Until a man—tall as herself and doused in the shadows of red-toned night—materialized before her. She twisted her chin to garner a better look at him, a single ear pivoting toward the sound of his crunching feet. He was handsome, the princess would have to admit, and for a moment, her interest was heavily piqued.

Who were they, and why were they so close to her family’s borders?

Could they not smell?

You there! She called after a beat, her voice the sound of a blaze of fire running across a pane of silk. You skirt around Tianlong’s borders, name yourself.