Update fail. I know I said every Saturday, but then I went out of town and forgot to update before I left the house. My bad. But I do return, with apologies and an update! Onward with our heroes's story! (ps. FFN has decided to reject my usual page breaks, much to my sadness and exasperation. So I will now be using the big ol' line things. Observe--)
Odd crouched low in the bushes, creeping along slowly; carefully side stepping each dry twig and loose rock that littered his path. Through the bramble of leaves he could just make out his target—a group of carriages, all circled around a large fire. Through the window of one of the carriages, this one placed closest to the fire, Odd could make out the shadowy forms of the five nobles that he knew were currently meeting within the confines of the flamboyant vehicle. It was one of these men whom held the information Odd had been sent to retrieve. Odd smiled grimly. Getting what he wanted from the pampered rich men wasn't going to be a challenge, not in the least.
However, getting past the dozen hulking armored guards surrounding the carriage might be. Each man was covered from chest to toe in shiny steel armor, and each was armed with a heavy sword.
"Not a problem," Odd muttered to himself. He reached his right hand over his shoulder, grabbing the end of his bow and pulling it slowly from the quiver. Then, gently, so as not to rattle the leafy branches around him, Odd strung his bow. All the while he kept his eyes on the guards, watching to make sure none of them spotted his careful movements.
Suddenly one of the guards turned in Odd's direction, taking a few steps towards his hiding place. Odd froze, his breath held and muscles locked, tensing in preparation to fend off any attacks from the guard.
He needn't have been so worried. The guard simply took a few steps away from the group to let loose a loud, wet sneeze, and then turned and rejoined the others. Odd released his held breath in a silent whoosh.
Adjusting his stance and still taking every care with his movements, Odd reached back over his shoulder to retrieve one of his arrows. Notching it into his bow, Odd drew the bow slowly, tilting his head to look down the length of the shaft as he did. He shifted the bow slightly until he had one of the guards in his sight. With a tight lipped grin, Odd pulled back on the arrow a little more, feeling the feathers at its end tickling his cheek.
The arrow made no sound as it was released, other than the faint rustle of leaves as the arrow passed through the bush. The guard never saw the airborne weapon coming. As he toppled to the ground, the arrow protruding from his temple, it was safe to assume the man never knew what hit him.
Odd had two more arrows notched before one of the other guards discovered his fallen brethren. With a surprised shout, the guard spun around and signaled for another man to join him. Odd tilted his bow a little as the second man came to stand beside the first. With a twang the bow released, the twin arrows soaring towards their targets.
The two men toppled to the ground beside the body of the first with the soft clang of shifting armor. Odd stayed still, waiting to see if the sound attracted any of the other guards. It didn't. Smiling at his good fortune so far, Odd slowly slipped free of the bushes. Maintaining a low crouch, he moved swiftly into the clearing.
Reaching one of the empty carriages, Odd pressed his back against it, straining his ears for any sign of where the other guards were. He could hear a group of them just around the other side of the carriage, discussing something in hushed tones. Odd listened just long enough to ensure that it wasn't him they were talking about before turning to face the wagon. Then, with nimble grace of a mountain goat, Odd scaled the side of the carriage. The vehicle barely rocked as he reached the top. Lying across the carriage roof on his stomach, Odd slowly shimmied his way across the smooth, golden colored surface to peer down on the men conversing below.
There were three guards standing close together, whispering among themselves. Whatever it was, Odd hopped it was really important, since the men had all let down their guards for this little chat of theirs. Not that Odd was all that concerned with the topic of their chitchat. All that mattered to him was that it had left the men wide open to an attack. Stuffing his bow back into his quiver, Odd drew the large knife as his waist as he shifted into a crouch. Then, as soon as he had his weapon at the ready, he pounced.
In ten seconds Odd was brushing himself off and tucking his knife away before hurrying over to duck behind the next carriage, leaving the three men in a heap on the ground. Scooting around to the back of the carriage, Odd again grabbed his bow and strung it while peering around the corner of his hiding place. He could see two more of the guards standing near the fire, both with their backs to him as they watched the carriage within which the nobles were carrying out their meeting.
"Too easy," Odd muttered as he pulled two arrows from his quiver. As with his previous kills, this one was completely silent, the men crumpling to the ground without an sign of an attacker. Or so Odd had thought.
"Halt!" a gruff voice bellowed, causing Odd to spin around with a start. He came face to face with the point of a sword. Eyes tracing up the length of the weapon, Odd found himself being loomed over by one of the burly guards.
"Uh, hi," Odd said; eyes wide. Instinctively, his hand moved towards the knife at his belt.
"Don't move," the guard hissed. Odd froze.
"Can't we, you know, talk about this?" he pleaded; doing his best to look as small and innocent as possible. The guard narrowed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath before announcing,
"That's not how it happened."
Odd's frightened stare turned into an annoyed glare.
"Ulrich, stop interrupting. I'm trying to tell a story here."
"Story being the operative word."
The group gathered around the blonde laughed as Odd turned his glare to the bespectacled boy sitting across the dinning hall's long wooden table.
"Who was the one on this mission?" Odd asked. "You or me?"
"Yeah Jeremy," said the girl sitting to the right of the boy wearing the glasses. "Personally, I thought it was a wonderful story."
"Because it's only a story, Aelita," Ulrich said with a grin. Aelita grinned back.
"This is true."
"You are a horrible group of friends," Odd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping in his seat.
"Aww, we're sorry Odd," Emily said, sitting on Odd's left. She looped an arm around the blonde's shoulders in a quick hug. "If it makes you feel better, it was still an exciting story."
"See Odd?" Jeremy said, pushing up his glasses. "If this whole assassin thing doesn't work out, you've still got a promising career as a story teller!"
"Stuff it Belpois," Odd grumbled, although there was a grin on his face. Jeremy pulled a face at his friend.
"Enough of that," Aelita said, giving Jeremy a light shove. "Finish your breakfast before it gets cold, the lot of you."
"Yes mom," Odd responded cheekily. She wrinkled her nose at him before giving her eggs a particularly vicious stab with her fork. Odd gulped, turning his attention to his suddenly very interesting plate of food. He could hear Ulrich snickering, and gave the boy a swift kick under the table. The laughter cut off with a choked sound of pain.
Grinning at his minor victory, Odd began to shovel down the food on his plate. He paused suddenly, however, when it occurred to him that his plate—currently piled high with just about every food available on the long table—was missing a key food product.
He had no sausage.
Frowning, Odd turned his attention to the various platters and bowls spread along the table, eyes searching them for the absent meat. His eyes lit with triumph when he finally spotted a large plate with a couple of the links sitting on it. He started to reach for the plate—only to jerk his hand back again, clutching it to his chest as he stared with wide eyes at the large knife protruding from the table between him and the sausage.
"Too slow," the dark haired girl on Jeremy's left announced, grinning as she reached over and snagged the remaining sausages with her fork before retrieving her knife. Odd gaped at her, while those around him laughed.
"Nice one, Noemie," Emily called, giving the other girl a high-five over the table.
"Thanks," Noemie said, taking a bite of the sausage.
"No fair," Odd whined. Ulrich patted him on the shoulder.
"Sorry Odd," he said. "But we don't have time to sulk. Hurry up and eat, we have a class to go help teach." This elicited a series of angrily grumbled curses and complaints, all of which the brunet ignored as Odd finished wolfing down his food.
"Alright," Odd said, as the last lump of eggs vanished from his plate. "I'm ready." Waving a quick goodbye to those staying at the table; Odd bounced up and followed after Ulrich, the pair heading for the doors at the far end of the dining hall. They receive various shouts of 'good morning' and 'how are you?' as they crossed through the high ceilinged hall, passing along the side of the wide dining table. Ulrich and Odd answered back to all of the calls. The atmosphere in the hall was nothing but jovial and friendly.
An odd contrast, when one considered the career this hall full of people had dedicated themselves to.
Leaving the noise of the hall behind, Ulrich and Odd stepped out into the morning late morning light cascading over the castle walls. Odd stretched widely as he reached the warmth, letting out a long groan of comfort as he did. Ulrich poked him in the stomach.
"What are you, a cat?" Ulrich teased as Odd scowled at him, curling around him torso so as to protect it from further attack.
"Don't make me take your arm off," Odd growled back. Ulrich made a noise of disbelief.
"As if you could."
"Don't tempt me." Grinning, Ulrich turned and started off along the castle's inner wall, the pair having emerged from the doors at the very end of the 'T' shaped building; the lower floor of the building's base housing the dining hall. It only took them a short walk to reach one the archways in the wall, through which they passed into the lower bailey. Across the courtyard, the boys could see that Michel already had his class assembled, what looked like a half dozen young teens gathered by his stables.
"You ready to go be teacher for a day?" Ulrich asked playfully. Odd sent him a dark look.
"You won't be laughing when I knock you off your horse," he grumbled back. Ulrich raised an eyebrow at him.
"Who said anything about me being the one who got knocked off of their horse?" Ulrich asked indignantly.
"You did," Odd said with a grin, "Back when you lost that race yesterday."
"I can't be serious," Ulrich deadpanned.
"I can, actually," Odd responded. "And I am. I hope you brushed up on your falling technique, you're going to need it." Ulrich narrowed his eyes at the back of Odd's head as the blonde marched off ahead of him, and was just preparing to aim a punch at his companion when Michel called out to them.
"Stern, Della Robbia, so nice of you to join us this morning," he greeted, grinning broadly at the young men as they reached his stables.
"Hey Michel," Odd grumbled. "This them?" he asked, motioning to the group of teenagers gathered, all looking to be about fourteen and fifteen.
"Yup," Michel said, nodding. "Class, meet today's instructors—Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robbia." The class muttered their hellos, all staring up at Odd and Ulrich with looks akin to awe. It made Ulrich feel a little nervous.
"Today, class," Michel continued, "You will be learning how to dismount an opponent on horseback. Stern and Della Robbia here will demonstrate for you, and then you will go in pairs and try it for yourselves."
Quite muttering broke out among the group as students eyed their partners, sizing one another up as if judging how dangerous they thought their companion really was. Behind them, Michel was leading two of the horses out of their stalls and over to Odd and Ulrich.
"Any preference?" he asked as he presented the pair with the animals.
"Hmm." Odd hesitated; his gaze shifting between the two creatures. The first was a great black brute. It caught the blonde's eye and snorted, pawing at the ground. Odd frowned, quickly shifting his attention to the other horse. This one, a light tawny color, was smaller than the first, and seemed a little more demure. "Him," Odd decided, pointing to the smaller horse.
"Her," Michel corrected, handing Odd the reigns.
"Whatever," Odd responded, moving around to the horse's side. Slipping one foot into the stirrup, he heaved himself up over top the horse. The animal snorted, shaking its head and stepping to the side as Odd dropped down into the saddle. "Stop that," Odd told it sharply, giving the reigns a sharp tug.
"Eloquent," Ulrich deadpanned as he trotted past Odd.
"No one asked you," Odd huffed. Ulrich flashed him a grin, and then pointed to the castle's north wall. "You go stand over there," he said, "and I'll go that way." Ulrich pointed over his shoulder in the opposite direction.
"Yes sir," Odd said, saluting Ulrich. The brunet rolled his eyes, turning his horse away and trotting off across the courtyard. Grinning, Odd trotted off in the other direction. When he reached the wall he turned back around to face Ulrich. His friend waved at him. Odd scowled in return. He then adjusted his position, shifting so that only the toes of his boots were in the stirrups and he was sitting forward in the saddle, leaning down over the horse's neck.
"Ready?" Michel called from where he stood with his students.
"Of course!" Odd shouted.
"Yes," Ulrich called.
"When you're ready," Michel told them. The pair nodded, and then proceeded to stare each other down.
It was Ulrich who made the first move, sending his horse forward with a shout. Grinning, Odd kicked his own horse into gear. The creature's hooves pounded the courtyard ground as he thundered toward the other boy. Shifting his weight, Odd released the reigns with one of his hands, pulling back and curling it into a fist, prepared to strike. Jerking the reigns so that the horse darted to the side of Ulrich's, the two animals pulled even and Odd let his punch fly.
Having clearly expected the attack, Ulrich rocked to the side to avoid the flying fist. In the same movement his leg swung up in a kick that connected solidly with Odd's chest. The impact knocked Odd from his saddle and sent him tumbling backwards over the back of his horse. He landed in the dirt on his back with a dull thud.
The collection of students cheered as Odd blinked up at the sky. His horse, realizing it had lost its rider, turned about and shuffled back over to the blonde, coming to a stop beside the prone boy and leaning its head down to stare at him.
"What do you want?" Odd asked it hotly, scowling. The horse snorted at him.
"Need a hand?" Odd's scowl deepened.
"No," he barked, rolling to his feet as Ulrich approached. "I thought we agreed I was going to be knocking you off of the horse."
"Did we?" Ulrich asked innocently.
"Very good you two," Michel said, walking over to the pair. He clapped Odd on the shoulder. "Would you mind showing us that again, a little slower? I want to point out some things to the kids."
"Certainly," Ulrich told him.
"Thanks," Michel said before returning to his class.
"Suck up," Odd hissed as he scrambled back onto his horse.
"At least I didn't get knocked off my horse." Odd narrowed his eyes as he pulled his horse around to face Ulrich, shifting so that he was back in the same position he had been before he was dislodged.
"See here," Michel said to his class, immediately pointing out Odd's foot placement. "You'll find most of your mounted fighters riding like this, with as little of the foot in the stirrup as possible. This is to avoid getting your foot caught in the stirrup when you're hit, so you don't get dragged by your horse. It can also make it easier to knock someone out of their saddle, as Stern demonstrated."
The class snickered while Odd threw Ulrich a dark look. 'What?' Ulrich mouthed. Odd gave him a quick 'you know what' glare back.
"Stern," Michel barked, getting both boys' attentions. "Could you show us again that kick of yours?"
"I can," Ulrich answered, turning towards Odd. He trotted his horse over until the two were side-by-side, and then leaned away from Odd, sticking his leg straight out so that it hovered in front of Odd. The blonde narrowed his eyes at the appendage, prompting Ulrich to kick him lightly in the chest.
"As you can see, this position serves two purposes," Michel pointed to Ulrich, "he can both dodge Odd's punch and retaliate in the same move." Grinning, Odd leaned towards Ulrich, trying to punch the brunet in the head. Ulrich wrinkled his nose and snapped at the boy's fist with his teeth.
"As I'm sure you can tell, I've brought some of our most skilled assassins to come train you lot," Michel deadpanned at the pair, to his class's amusement. Odd and Ulrich sat back upright in their saddles, doing their best to look like innocent, well behaved young men.
Judging by the increase in the giggle from the peanut gallery, they weren't succeeding. Michel rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to Odd and Ulrich.
"Would you two mind running through that again? I don't think everyone was paying—"
"Excuse me."
Michel paused mid-sentence, turning to stare at the young man who had appeared by his side.
"Hey, Ulrich," Odd hissed in a stage whisper. "It's the local messenger pigeon." Herve flashed Odd a dirty look and then returned his attention to Michel.
"The leader would like to see Stern and Della Robbia," he informed the stable master. "Are you done with them?"
"I suppose I am," Michel said, glancing at the two boys in question. They shrugged, neither one sure of why the leader would want to talk to them again this morning. They quickly dismounted their steeds and handed them off to two of the awaiting students, and then began to jog across the courtyard in the direction of the northwest tower.
"Do you think this is about the vial we gave him yesterday?" Odd asked curiously as they passed through the archway. Ulrich shrugged, and then scowled as he was forced to slow down to maneuver through the small throng of people exiting the dining hall and flooding the main bailey. "Maybe the information in it is faulty," Odd suggested.
"And maybe we will find out when we get there," Ulrich responded, finally weaving his way out of the crowd, Odd on his heels. The blonde reached forward, resting a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. "What?" Ulrich asked.
"Are you okay?" Odd asked, his tone more somber than it had been moments ago.
"Yeah Odd," Ulrich answered. "It's just…strange for the leader to want to talk to us again this soon after a mission."
"Maybe he wants to send us out again," Odd suggested as he and Ulrich started walking again.
"Maybe," Ulrich agreed. "It would be odd for him to have us do two so close together, though; especially with how top secret the last one was."
"He could just want to tell us we did a good job."
Ulrich turned his head and stared at Odd.
"What?" the blonde asked. "Too farfetched?"
"Way too far," Ulrich agreed. Odd grinned at him.
"I can always hope."
"'Hope' being the key word," Ulrich teased. Odd pulled a face at him.
"You know, the world won't stop because you chose not to stomp all over my hopes and dreams," he told his companion sourly. Ulrich let out a bark of laughter, clapping a hand on Odd's shoulder. He opened his mouth, as if to say something to the blonde, then lowered his hand and continued into the tower, still laughing. Blowing a raspberry at his companion's back, Odd scurried after Ulrich.
They didn't race up the stairs this time, instead choosing a more leisurely, and normal, pace; allowing them a little more time to contemplate what it could be that the leader wanted them for. For one worried moment, Ulrich feared that he and Odd might have broken one of the codes while on their mission. While Ulrich didn't think he would be punished for it, he was sure that the leader wouldn't approve of his slaughtering the rotund aristocrat. After all, they were only to kill their targets, and anyone who could pose an honest threat to their small society. Ulrich wasn't quite sure that the older gentleman had been either.
And then Ulrich ran out of time to ponder, as the trapdoor suddenly appeared before his face, sitting open, as if beckoning him into the small library like office above. Ulrich hesitated for the briefest of moments, suddenly worried about what was about to take place within the circular walls of that office. A nudge from behind from Odd broke that line of thought, and got Ulrich moving again. With the faintest of trepidation, Ulrich stepped up and into the office.
To Ulrich's surprise, it wasn't the Leader who was waiting for them at the other side of the rounded library.
"Ulrich?" Aelita asked, flashing the brunet a surprised look.
"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, adjusting his glasses.
"We could ask you the same," Odd said, stepping around from behind Ulrich. He winked when he saw Aelita. The pink haired girl rolled her eyes good naturedly in return.
"We just got a message that the Leader wanted to see us," Ulrich said, shrugging slightly. "We weren't told why."
"The same thing happened to us," Aelita said. She glanced at the empty desk behind her. "We got here a few minutes ago, but the Leader wasn't here yet." Jeremy nodded in agreement with her words.
"What do you think he wants?" Odd asked the pair. They looked at one another and shrugged.
"We assumed a mission," Jeremy said, looking slightly baffled. "But I wouldn't expect him to send you two out so soon after your last mission."
"And normally, I wouldn't," a new voice said, drifting across from the far right. The assembled assassins spun around to see the Leader making his way down a narrow staircase that clung to the library office's wall, at the top of which was a small opening leading into the room above. "But a situation as arisen that requires I send out only the most skilled among us."
Odd stood a little straighter, before an elbow to his shin had him dropping respectfully to one knee, as the others had done. The elderly man laughed softly as he reached the group.
"You may rise," he told them as he passed. As one, they returned to their feet, exchanging subtle glances as the Leader took a seat behind his desk. "Della Robbia, Stern, I know you have only just returned from your last mission, but I again require your services. An imminent threat to our brethren has recently emerged, and I hope to cut it off now, before it grows into a power we are unable to stop."
Ulrich struggled to not flash Odd an anxious look. As a collection of assassins, they tended to be an unpopular group among those who knew they might be on someone's hit list; and as such had received many threats against themselves in the past. However, never had there been one that posed an honest threat to their way of life. Judging by the way the Leader was acting, it looked like this was about to change.
"I want Belpois and Stones to accompany you," the Leader continued, nodding his head towards the pair. "This mission requires a certain level of finesse that I feel is best suited to the methods of a stealthier assassin. I would prefer that the body count remained as low as possible."
Ulrich scowled as Odd struggled to hide a snicker by clearing his throat. Beside him, Aelita straightened a little, obviously also taking amusement in the Leader's comments concerning Odd and Ulrich's less then neat and tidy work.
"Your target will be heavily guarded within the castle in the city of Carthage. Stern and Della Robbia, it will be your job to get Stones and Belpois inside the castle walls, and to protect them from any guards who might try to stop them. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," the group chorused. The Leader looked over the rim of his glasses at the four assassins, as if judging the honesty of their responses. After a minute he nodded once to himself.
"I need you to be ready as quickly as possible," the Leader instructed. "Fetch horses from Michel and the maps you'll need from Emily at the front gate. Ride straight through until you reach the town. Rest for the night; staying out of the town until morning. Get you bearings during the daylight hours, strike that night, and then come straight back, riding through until morning." He paused, giving each of the assassins a pointed look.
"There is a very good chance that, even without being spotted, a large armed guard will be scouring the woods soon after your target's death. You need to be out of the area as quickly as possible so as to limit casualties." Again, the Leader turned his gaze on Odd and Ulrich. "You are only to kill guards if absolutely necessary."
"Yes sir," the pair said again.
"You have your mission," the Leader announced. "Go and prepare. I expect to see you riding away from these walls very soon."
Bowing, the quartet turned and walked towards the opening in the floor across the other side of the room, which would take them down from the tower. They kept their pace measured as they approached it, each climbing down through the opening slowly, one at a time. Then, as soon as the last person had cleared the trapdoor, the group broke out into a run.
Sprinting down the spiraling staircase, the group vaulted back and forth across the gaping opening at the center of the tower, making the decent as quickly as possible. As soon as they reached the ground they burst out from the door at the tower's base, running across the open courtyard.
"Don't you need to get to your room?" Jeremy asked as they hurried across into the lower bailey.
"Nope," Odd answered. "Unlike some people, we always travel prepared."
"Odd," Aelita said, giving the blonde a shove that almost sent him careening off balance. "We all know that you needed your weapons for the class you helped teach today."
"Does everyone know about that?" Odd shouted in exasperation. The pink haired girl grinned.
"Milly and Tamia told me about it."
"Curse them," Odd hissed halfheartedly, no real venom in his words.
A few years younger than Odd and Ulrich, Milly and Tamia were known among their small community of assassins for being quick, stealthy, and brilliant at gathering information necessary to planning and preparing missions. But even more so, they were known as the not so official heads of the even less official community grape vine.
There was very little that the two girls missed when it came to the lives of the assassins within the ancient castle's walls. Many a complaint had arisen against the girls concerning their wealth of social and private knowledge regarding their companions; but every grievance was rebuffed by an amused Leader, who claimed that if the assassins couldn't figure out how the pair was gathering their information and stop them themselves, then they had no right to complain.
And apparently, they had used their magnificent abilities to check in on an unsuspecting Odd and Ulrich.
"How do they know all of this stuff?" Odd asked, looking over at his partner. "We only got back yesterday evening!"
"Jealous?" Ulrich teased, deciding to use the moment to poke fun at his friend rather than admit that the girls had him stumped as well.
"No," Odd shot back petulantly.
"Yes you are," Ulrich said, grinning slyly.
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"If you two don't cut it out, I'm making you both stay out here," Jeremy warned, scowling at the pair over his shoulder. Odd blew a raspberry at him.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're no fun?" Odd asked him.
"Yes," Jeremy responded flatly. "You." Odd broke out in a grin.
"It's what I do."
Shaking his head, Jeremy returned his attention forward, towards the castle's north east corner, where a small tower sat nestled between the adjoining outer walls. Rising up from the small turret atop the tower was a thin chimney, which was currently spewing a stream of violet smoke. A small, thick stone door was set into the tower's base.
"I shouldn't have to remind you both of this every time you come in, but I do, and I will," Jeremy said, grabbing the door's metal handle. "Don't. Touch. Anything."
"Psh," was Odd's response. Ulrich rolled his eyes.
"It wasn't me who broke that…whatever it was last time we were here," the brunet defended, crossing his arms over his chest.
"It was a graduated cylinder," Aelita told him. "And the chemical inside of it ate a small hole through the lab's floor."
"Which we still haven't had time to fix," Jeremy chimed in, "So if you would be so kind as to not add any more holes; it would be appreciated."
"Sure thing Jer," Odd said, crossing his arms behind his back and grinning. Aelita rolled her eyes, flashing Ulrich a 'yeah, right' look as she passed by the pair. She thanked Jeremy, who was holding the door open for her, and entered the tower. Ulrich and Odd followed after her, Jeremy muttering a quick "touch nothing" as they passed.
Like with the tower to the Leader's library, the inside of this smaller tower was ringed with stairs built from the wall. The quartet ascended them quickly, passing up through a trapdoor in the ceiling and into a smaller version of the Leader's circular office room. Unlike the Leader's library this room, while containing a few shelves of books, was populated mostly with stone tables, each covered with a collection of glass vials, beakers, and bowls, all filled with liquids and powders and crystals of varying colors. They were interspersed with random measuring tools, and the occasional open book.
And in the floor near a table in the center of the room was a small hole, about the size of a fist. Odd grinned sheepishly when he saw it.
"I'll be right back," Aelita told the trio of boys before darting across the room, where a narrow wooden ladder was propped against the wall. Aelita scrambled up it, vanishing through an opening in the ceiling to a room up above. Odd watched her until she was out of sight, and then turned his attention to the other blonde in the room, who was currently rummaging through a shelf of various sized bottles and jars against the curving wall. He picked a few of the bottles from the shelf and carried them across the room to where Aelita was sliding back down the ladder. She held two bags in her hands.
"Here you are," she said, holding out one of the bags to Jeremy. He flashed her a quick smile, dumping his armful of jars into the bag and then taking it off the girl. She kept the second bag, slinging it over her shoulder and she and Jeremy walked back over to where Odd and Ulrich were waiting.
"What did I tell you?" Jeremy asked when he noticed Odd crouched down, peering at a bulbous container of a purplish colored liquid, inside of which was floating something vaguely worm like.
"Don't make any more holes in the floor?" Odd tried, straightening with a start. Jeremy gave him a flat look, which Odd attempted to fend off with a grin. Noticing that it wasn't working to make his fellow blonde look any less annoyed, Odd glanced over at the table he was standing beside, and then took a step away from it. "Better?" he asked.
"Not really," Jeremy told him. Aelita laughed.
"Come on you two," she said, grabbing Jeremy's hand and leading him towards the room's floor level exit.
"Yes ma'am," Odd said, saluting the pink haired girl. Though, once she had passed him he dropped his hand, allowing his shoulders to slump.
"What?" Ulrich muttered to him, giving the shorter boy a confused look.
"Nothing," Odd muttered back. Ulrich snorted.
"Liar." It didn't exactly require a lot of detective work for him to notice the way Odd was pouting at Jeremy and Aelita's cupped hands.
"It's nothing," Odd repeated more emphatically as he followed after the pair.
"Sure, sure," Ulrich responded, rolling his eyes as he fell into step behind his partner.
As soon as the quartet was back within the castle's courtyard they picked up their pace, trotting over to Michel's stable. The stable keeper was waiting for them, four horses already out and waiting. Odd recognized the two animals he and Ulrich had been teaching on earlier that day, and he quickly made a beeline for the familiar tawny female before any of the others could snatch it up.
"Did you make a new friend?" Ulrich teased lightly as Odd scrambled onto the horse's saddle.
"Shut it," Odd told him simply. He then leaned down over the horse's neck, patting its shoulder and muttering a quick, "Ignore him. He's just jealous."
"Not even in the horse's dreams," Ulrich assured him, pointedly avoiding his own earlier mount, so as to not receive any taunts from Odd. Not that he honestly expected the tactic to work.
"What, did you two get into a tiff?" Odd asked as Ulrich chose instead the gray horse at the end of the group. The brunet scowled as he tossed his leg over the saddle.
"Shut it."
"Thanks Michel," Aelita said, ignoring the bickering pair in favor of the chuckling stable keeper as he offered her the smallest horse, a slender brown and white pinto.
"Any time, Miss Stones," Michel said politely. "Anything to make your trip a little easier. If I could get you some nicer company, I would," he added, rolling his eyes towards Ulrich and Odd, who were currently attempting to kick one another from their horses.
"If only," Jeremy said, climbing onto Ulrich's abandoned black horse. "We should be back in a few days," he told the stable keeper. "And we'll make sure Odd doesn't lose his horse."
"If you could actually keep him from losing one of my animals, I'd be forever in your debt," Michel told him gravely. "I would also be interested in where you learned such magic." Ulrich and Aelita exploded with laughter at the man's words. Beside Ulrich, Odd scowled, and then kicked the brunet in the shin.
"I'm not that bad," he whined. Michel let out a bark of laugher.
"Not that bad, he says," he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he walked away. Odd pouted, turning to look at Ulrich.
"You know, I don't always lose horses." Ulrich raised an eyebrow at him, then simply shook his head and turned his horse in the direction of the main gate. Jeremy rolled his eyes when Odd turned his pout his way, and trotted after Ulrich.
"Well, I know you don't always lose them," Aelita assured the blonde, walking her horse up beside his as they followed their partners. Odd smiled
"Thanks Aelita," he told her sincerely. Aelita smiled back.
"You just…misplace them, that's all."
"…Thanks Aelita," Odd huffed. Aelita's smile grew.
"I try my best." Odd rolled his eyes, although he was grinning as Aelita caught his eye.
They looked at one another for a long moment, and then simultaneously burst into laughter. Odd gasped a few times to get his breathing back under control as their laughter died down, while Aelita reached up to rub at slightly tearing eyes. She sighed, smiling at Odd.
"I'm sorry Odd," she said, while visibly fighting back a smile. "I shouldn't make fun of your thing with horses."
"It's not a thing," Odd automatically replied. "And it's no problem. Everyone needs to laugh at themselves once in a while, right?" Odd paused, a thoughtful look overtaking his features. "You know, Ulrich should try it some time. Maybe it would make him less of a hard—"
"Hard what, exactly?" Ulrich interrupted, appearing beside the blonde. Odd jumped, turning in his saddle to glare at his friend.
"Hard headed," Odd supplied. "Which is why you didn't notice that this is a private conversation."
"Oh gee, I'm so sorry for interrupting," Ulrich drawled, not a hint of contriteness in his voice. "I'll just leave you two love birds to it then." Odd glared at Ulrich, fighting back the faintest of blushes as Ulrich winked at him and then trotted off; frustrated both with his partner and the fact that he turned red with any and all mentions of Aelita, himself, a relationship between the two.
"Sorry about that," he mumbled to Aelita, continuing to glare at Ulrich's back as he joined Jeremy at the gate, where Emily was waiting to greet them. As they followed her across the first drawbridge into the barbican, Odd cleared his throat, checking to make sure that the trio ahead of them was far enough away so as to not pick up on what he was about to say to Aelita.
"So, umm, Aelita," he began awkwardly, "do you and Jeremy have any, er, plans after the mission?"
"Plans?" Aelita repeated, giving Odd a confused sideways glance. Odd nodded.
"Yeah, uh, you know. Like, maybe a date or, you know…something?" Aelita blinked, turning her full attention to Odd.
"A…date?" Odd grimaced and nodded. "No," Aelita answered slowly. "Why? Should I?"
"No, no!" Odd said quickly, "It's just that, you know, I was going to ask, but I thought I should know first if, I mean, I know it's not my business or anything but if you and…and then yeah, I wouldn't really need to ask but, uh—"
"Odd," Aelita barked, cutting off Odd's rambling. "What is it you want to ask me?" Odd blinked, and then gulped, suddenly nervous.
"Well, I was wondering if, after the mission, you might want to, I don't know, have dinner with me?" Aelita raised a delicately curved eyebrow.
"Odd, we all eat dinner together in the dining hall. But," she continued quickly, cutting Odd off before he could start o speak, "I know what you mean. And, well, I—"
"Odd, Aelita!" Ulrich shouted, cutting the pink haired girl off. The pair looked forward to see Jeremy and Ulrich waiting at the barbican's exit, where the second drawbridge was being lowered down over the gap between the castle and the forest. "Are you two coming or not?"
"Yeah, yeah," Odd called, he and Aelita trotting their horses forward just as the drawbridge finished lowering. "Did you get the map?" he asked Ulrich.
"Right here," the brunet answered, holding up a folded piece of paper.
"Don't worry, you're all set," Emily assured the blonde. "I'll see you lot in a few days!"
Waving a quick goodbye, the group as one kicked their horses into motion, bolting out across the drawbridge and onto the path shadowing the forests edge, making sure they took a route which would be seen by the Leader from up in his library office.
"Odd!" Aelita shouted, pulling her horse up beside Odd's, the pair running side by side.
"What?" Odd shouted back.
"I'd love to join you for dinner!"
Odd stared, eyes wide, as Aelita smiled at him. Then, with a shout, Aelita pushed her horse forward, galloping up to run beside Jeremy. Odd followed her with his eyes, still dumbstruck.
He was eventually pulled from his stupor by the sound of laughter to his left. Looking over, he found Ulrich galloping beside him.
"What?" he shouted at the still laughing brunet. Ulrich response was the shake his head, still laughing, before hurrying to join Jeremy and Aelita.
But not before explaining to Odd the source of his amusement with a whip cracking sound and a flick of his wrist.
Odd's scowl and attempted kick only made the situation that much funnier for the brown haired assassin, who simply continued to laugh.
