"It all starts with just a little spark. But that spark can easily turn into a flame, and before you know it, your whole word is on fire."

— Forbidden Love

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

As the sun surely began to set, and the sky was beginning to flaunt its summer colors, a dozen men awaited on the saddle of their horses for their next command.

"Sir Nathaniel Logharth Sir, should we not consider possibly heading back into to town—"

"Silence!" Nathaniel snapped. At the sound of his piercing command, his men grew into an immediate silence. Standing before Nathaniel himself, stood a six-foot, stone wall, its length stretching as far as the eye could see, and its height restricting his eyes. With a grunt, he turned back around to meet the eyes of his men who still sat upon their saddles, each with reins in hand.

"You!" Nathaniel pointed to one of the men. "What have you found?"

"Nothing S-Sir," the man stuttered out, his anxious nerves before his master clearly visible. "We have searched the entire town. No sight of the girl."

Slamming his fist against his palm in a frustrated manner, Sir Nathaniel turned back to face the stone wall. "Where else could she have gone?" He asked more to himself. "She has no one else. No one else who would invite her into their home."

His men all stayed silent around him, refusing to kick their horses' sides in attempt to leave the forest. The sun was setting quicker than the blink of an eye, and the darkness that was falling upon them restricted their eyesight.

"We go over the wall." Commanded Nathaniel suddenly, his back still facing his men.

Gasps of unbelief could be heard from the group of men, and some mumbled to one another in protest and disbelief of their master's actions.

"This is absurd!"

"That is far too dangerous!"

"It is forbidden to even consider—"

"We would be breaking the law!"

"It is called the Forbidden Forest for a reason!"

"Silence!"

Everyone else fell silent as Nathaniel whipped around on his horse to face his men with a scowl on his face.

One of the men, however, was bolder than the rest. "But Sir, it is against the law—"

"A woman is missing and could have possibly been kidnapped by something that lives on the other side of this wall, and you want to waste our time reciting the law to me?"

The man flinched back and shook his head. "No sir."

"But... but what about the creatures?" Another man spoke up. "What will we do if we come across one?"

"We would kill it, obviously." Nathaniel said unfazed.

"Kill it? What if it is impossible to kill? Or what if it kills us first—?"

"Do you have a brighter idea on where else we should look, or are you going to continue being a coward? Nathaniel said, his eyes narrowing on the one man who immediately shook his head.

The red head turned back to face the wall head on, offering it a toothy grin as he made the final command that they would be crossing over.

Whether Sir Nathaniel Logharth broke the law or not, he would do whatever it took to find miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Not only did his likings with her aunt depend on it, but her hand in marriage did as well.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

After a long day of galloping through the endless fields with Marinette, exploring the streams and rivers of the land, and having a picnic in the tall blades, Chat Noir carried his tired friend bridal style back to his cottage that night. It'd been a bit awkward and different, if he was being honest, but Marinette was very exhausted... and he, of course, being the gentleman that he was, would not hesitate to bring her to his bed.

For sleep, of course. Nothing more.

If Chat Noir was being honest, there was a lot more to Marinette than what met the eye. At first, when he'd met her, he had labeled her as a naive, human woman, who devised herself in the ways of stubbornness. What he saw, was a woman who wanted her way, and was unopen to other ways or opportunities. A woman who relied on the clothing of a man, is his theory, to keep herself away from womanly affairs.

Did he think at one point that Marinette had been purposely wanting to dress like the opposite sex because she found herself less as a woman?

He couldn't deny that the idea hadn't crossed his mind before.

But now, he saw Marinette as a woman filled with determination. A woman who talked about her dreams and purpose like none other, who was not afraid of what others thought on the matter. Not only did her beauty radiate physically, but her heart was just as radiant.

And he liked that– no, loved that. He really loved those characteristics about her.

If he had known any better, he could have sworn he was actually beginning to have feelings for Marinette.

But that was just utterly preposterous...

...wasn't it?

With those thoughts on his mind, he had shaken his head and prepared himself for sleep. He had fallen asleep once his head had touched the comfort of his pillow...

...and had awoken only an hour later to the smell of smoke reaching his nostrils.

In an instant, he had sat upright in his makeshift bed on the floor, his eyes scanning the dark space of his home. Standing to his feet, his concerned gaze softened at the sight of Marinette still sleeping soundly in his bed.

Half of his worry vanished.

But the other half of his worry ventured outside. As Chat Noir stood in front of the door of his cottage home, he almost hesitated to leave Marinette alone. If it was a wildfire, it would spread far to quickly by the time he'd be able to make his way back to her.

So, he decided to wake her up.

"Marinette," shaking her figure bundled up underneath the covers, Chat Noir's breath was rigid. "Marinette, wake up."

It wasn't hard to awake her but waking her from her groggily state was more challenging.

"Hmmm," she yawned, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "Five minutes more."

Somehow, that small, innocent request had a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. But it immediately vanished as his worried thoughts returned.

"Marinette, you need to get up." He urged, shaking her gently once again. "Something is wrong, and I do not want to leave you here alone."

Groaning, she sat up. Groggily, maybe, but nonetheless she still sat up. "What is wrong?" She asked, another yawn escaping her lips.

"I smell fire."

Her eyes suddenly snapped open in surprise, and despite the darkness which consumed the room, she was able to find his glowing, green irises. "What? Did you say fire?"

"Well yes, I—"

"You are right. I smell it too." Before Chat Noir could even finish what he was saying, she was sniffing the air herself. "Is it a wildfire? Can you have those here?"

"Well yes, we can have them. But I do not know if it is." He replied, his voice somewhat shaky with nerves. "But if it is, I cannot leave you here nor anything you value dear to your heart. Take what you can of your belongings with you. I'll meet you outside."

"Wait—!" she grabbed his hand before he could move from his spot. "Those are all just material items that I will eventually lose someday. Let us just go now and find the source of the problem."

With a growing smile that tugged at the corner of his lips, Chat Noir held her hand tighter and led her outside.

It didn't take long to find the source of where the smell of smoke was coming from, but what was causing such a smell to spread greatly across the forest was not what Chat Noir had expected.

Oh, not at all.

It was blasted humans. At least a dozen of them, and each and every one of them had lit up a torch as a source of light in the darkness. They had created a fire pit to dip their wooden rods into, to carry the fire with them wherever they went. Although it was a relief to know that there hadn't been a wildfire amongst them, it was almost even more sickening to know humans were the cause of the smell.

And that they had crossed over.

"What in the world?!" Was Marinette's first reaction upon seeing the dozens of men huddled together around the fire, with rods of fire in their hands, as they listened to their master give them instructions for the morning. "Is it not against the law to cross over to this side?"

Still keeping his eyes focused on the group of men ahead, he shrugged his shoulders. "The law did not really stop you from crossing over either."

"Oh..." she said, because there was no argument there. "That is true. So, what are we going to do?"

"We?" This time, he turned to meet her gaze with a fierce look in his eye. "I will sound the alarm and chase them out of here, along with my team. You will head back to my cottage."

"What?!" She pouted and crossed her arms stubbornly. "No way! I want to stay!"

"Well, you will not stay."

Grumbling, her frown only deepened. "Indeed, I will."

"Indeed, you will not."

"Why not?" In a pleading manner, Marinette tugged on his forearm, in hopes he'll indeed let her help.

But when Chat Noir's eyes met hers again, there was a look swarming in his irises that she couldn't quite read. "Because I have super hearing that can listen to what they are speaking of." He then turned back to look at the men and raised a finger to point at one of them. "You see that funny looking man over there, dressed well with a feather in his hat?"

She turned to follow his gaze, and sure enough, she could barely make out the figure he was addressing. "Somewhat, yes." Marinette then turned to look back up at him. "Why do you ask?"

"I can hear every word he speaks," he said, and the tone in his voice is almost like venom from a viper. "And he claims to be looking for you."

He did not have to tell Marinette a third time to retreat back to his cottage.

_______________________________

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