The Princess sat within the springs for a good while; the rest of the village had started waking and the voices of people talking, selling goods, baking, just the life of a typical town began to fill the air. She smiled as she closed her eyes for a few moments, just letting it all sink in. Is this the life Aki used to live? Did he get to wake up around the sounds of life? She the castle wasn't empty, but it was nothing like the life a of village or the market during its busy time. Everyone in the castle went about their tasks like that's all they knew and found no pleasure in it; they cleaned, cooked and did their various other jobs while always seeming so happy before Kiyomi or her parents.

After a while, the now grown woman pulled herself from the warm waters, wrapping the thick fabric around her before making her way back down the hill and into the house of the elderly couple. "Ah, Miru! Perfect timing!" The little old woman called out excitedly as she nursed the cauldron that was bubbling over the fire. Kiyomi cocked a brow as she looked at the woman, her form barely within the door, body still dripping. "Miru?" She questioned, her head tilted slightly to the side. The old woman's back was to her at this point and she just nodded, "Yes, yes. Miru, it's your name."

Kiyomi looked around the room slowly, that was not her name, she was pretty sure she knew what her name was. It was then that the old lady turned around and saw the puzzled look on the not-so-child of a Princess. "Your lovely little friend told me," she added, pointing to the stuffed Midnight that seemed perfectly content sitting on the trunk besides the pile of yellow fabric that she had pulled out before shooing Kiyomi to bathe.

"Now, now Miru, go get changed. We don't want you to catch a cold your first day in Twin Falls!" The little old lady shuffled across the floor of her home, gathering up the clothing and shoving it into the brunette's arms before pushing her behind a divider so that she could get changed in peace. The old couple seemed far too used to what was going on, almost as though they were the welcoming committee for the old, run down refugee-like town.

The Princess dressed as quickly as she could, not wanting simply be standing in just a towel when she could hear voices on the other side of the exterior wall to her. With the top, boots, and skirt on, Kiyomi slowly moved out from the side of the divider, peaking at the woman. "Um," she started slowly, her voice quiet. "Might I request your assistance?" She then asked, part of her Princess-ly manners kicking in as she held her kimono-like top closed, the obi fabric draped over her other arm.

The old woman smiled before setting her wooden spoon down once again, making her way back to her dubbed Miru. "Of course my dear," she said with a smile before taking the fabric and swirling a finger to tell the woman to turn around. Obeying, it seemed to only take the elderly woman a few moments to tie off the obi before she scurried off to snatch the white fabric strip that was around Midnight, before taking it and tucking the woman's hair beneath it, tying a bow at the top of her head. The old woman was a bit slower at this, as though she were taking pride in this final touch.

As she was finishing with that, the wooden front door of the home swung open, hitting the wall with a bang. In the harsh sunlight of the early morning, a man Kiyomi hadn't seen was standing there. The old woman stood suddenly, her soft, grandma-like expression seemed to fall off and to reveal a woman who had seen much in her day, that was not as helpless as any other old woman would have. "What is it?" She asked, even the tone of her voice changing. The boy, no older than the way Kiyomi appeared now, fought to catch his breath. Between gasps he finally said, "It's Larken, he's returned from the Rashmaalian border." The old lady's forehead crinkled as she narrowed her eyes.

"Go now," the woman barked back at the boy. "See to him at once!" The woman slowly followed after the male, Kiyomi keeping up with her, curious as to why this was such a big deal. Moments after the two were greeted by the bright, warm sunlight of the day, a horse came barreling into the town, the rider barely holding in there. The towns people quickly gathered around the center of the marketplace where the horse was heading and within moments, it was coming to a fast and sudden stop before the water troph. Some people came forward to help the now fallen rider up off the dirt as another went to snatch up his frazzled horse.

The sudden movement from the man that went to grab the equine spooked it and the horse began rearing and kicking at the man and the other males that tried to subdue the animal, the ones that had grabbed his rider, pulling him away as quickly as they could. The men weren't having any luck with the horse and others were reaching for pitchforks and other weapons to be used on the creature because if it couldn't be calmed, it was useless to them. When Kiyomi saw the weapons started being gathered, she left the side of the woman, running to the horse that was being corralled into the marketplace of the shanty town.

Running towards the horse, she threw herself before the raised front legs of the beast. "Stop!" She called out to them and the towns people seemed to freeze, staring at the woman that just jumped before a mad horse. The horse's ears went back as he took a couple steps back. She turned quickly to lock her eyes on the horse and he no longer reared. A small, warm smile graced her lips as she lifted her hands, placing them on his snout, stroking it softly. "Shhh," the Princess cooed to the horse, laying a check on the horse's head. "You're alright now, no one will hurt you." The horse's ears seemed to droop as his head lowered, his body becoming noticeably more relax.

The people around the horse started whispering as the beast calmed down; who was this person and how could she calm such a frightened animal?! Finally someone spoke up, but more in the direction of the rider. "What spooked ya horse so bad, man?" It was then the attention of the people started slowly drifting back to the rider that was propped up between two large me. He rolled his tired eyes up, his body covered in dirt, sweat, cuts and scrapes as he finally breathed out, "The Sunshine Princess." Everyone at that point focused their whole attention on the man, save for Kiyomi who hid her face behind the head of the horse. "She has gone missing. The King, he searches for her."

The commotion of the town started to rise as the people seemed to be in a panic. "He'll come here, he'll blame us," one woman cried as she held her infant child to her breast. "His troops will come for us!" Another in the crowd called out. "We have to run, we have to get out of here before his men arrive!" Kiyomi lifted her face from the horse as she looked upon the horror struck faces of the people around her. Why were these people so fearful of her father? He was a kind and fair ruler, they had nothing to fear. But, Kiyomi didn't know the harsh reality that these people were all originally from Rashmaal, banished by her father for the simplest of things.

The old man appeared at that point, the crowd parting around him. "The King has no reason to think that we are to blame in this," he stated firmly and commandingly in his old age. "Return to your work and we shall do what we must to assist in looking for the Princess."

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