Part 3
Chris and I noticed something as we travelled and that is that gossip travels fast, faster than riders. To every village we came we heard tales of the murder of the queen's soldiers outside of Goldhaven. Some said it was wolves, some said it was the rebellion group the New Directions and some said it was magic. There were dead soldiers all around but no one else had gotten hurt. There were also those that said that there was not even a scratch on the dead soldiers and Chris and I just laughed at all tales when we were alone.
Whenever we ran out of money we performed… well I performed and Chris picked the crowds pockets… I had tried to tell him to not do it but he did anyway. He told me it was who he was and that he didn't want to change his whole identity until he found a good reason. I asked him if staying alive wasn't reason enough and he said that's why he does it. I had no clever comeback to that so I let him do what he wants to do and I don't complain… so much.
It's just I worry about the guy you know? He's my little brother now and I want to make sure he's always happy, that's what brothers are for. I just realized how Wes must be feeling when he does things for me. Wes… I wonder where he is.
When Chris and I travel I find myself wondering if Wes has been on these paths or if he has rested in the same places Chris and I do. I tell myself that he has because it makes my heart a little lighter and I feel closer to him. Chris and I are looking for him you know, but we are also looking for the New Directions. We want to join them and fight for justice, but finding them is harder than we both thought. We've been going to places where we know there's been sightings of them… but no one there knows anything and the New Directions aren't the top gossip anymore… the King of Thieves is.
No one knows who he is, all everyone knows is that he is leading a rebellion in the lands named Westerville, a land that has been underneath Sue's control for quite some time now. He leads a band of men and not all of them are grownups either. He is called the King of Thieves because that's the name Sue gave him. She calls him that because he has been leading robberies at her castles, fortresses, camps and battlefields. The King and his men steal everything they can get their hands on and are ruining all her plans.
They are merciless the gossip says. But since the stories comes from the capital and Sue herself I don't believe that. The King and his men are her enemies so she tries to make the people fear and hate him so that they can't hide anywhere.
I sometimes wonder what the New Directions thinks of this second group of rebels. They aren't the first either. Before the New Directions there was Vocal Adrenaline. They were a rebellious group but no one knows what happened to them. Sue and her armies attacked them in Akron and after that they were gone. Sue must've killed them all. There are a lot of groups that work for her now though, former rebels and I think that Vocal Adrenaline did just that. Other than them there are the former gangs called Aural Intensity and the Unitards.
Sue also has her private "assassin" and his name is Jesse St. James, he is well known. I say "assassin" because he isn't really one. He kills on her orders but not in secret, that's why his name is known. He's horrible though and if there is someone who doesn't show mercy it's Jesse St. James.
"Mike", Chris hissed and I looked up from my soup and musings. We'd rented rooms in an inn called the Seven Stars. We were the only travelers so far.
"What", I whispered back and Chris nodded to something behind me.
"Look at the group that just arrived", he then whispered and I turned around and saw them. It was five of the people we had battled with against the soldiers. It was the brunette girl with the bow, a tall brown haired boy, a fierce looking girl with dark chocolate skin, a girl that looked like Chris and I and a boy with a comb of hair on his head, like a rooster. They hadn't seen us yet and I hurriedly turned around.
"What are they doing here", I asked and pulled the hood on my cloak up and Chris did the same with the one on his tunic.
"Renting rooms it looks like", he said and looked up slightly.
"Don't look at them", I hissed.
"Relax", he said. "From their angle it will look as if I'm checking out the cute maid cleaning the tables." I rolled my eyes but trusted him. Chris wasn't usually wrong.
"Their coming", he said and looked down on his plate. I could only hear movement a bit behind me and knew it had to be them walking to a table. They sat down by a table and started talking.
"Did you notice the horses in the stable", one of the guys asked. "The dark one was glaring at me with hatred."
"All animals hate you Noah", a female voice said, I recognized the archer's voice. "Leave it be."
"One white horse and a dark one", the second male said.
"Oh knock it off", a second female voice said. "Why would it be those two psychos we tried to rob?"
"Yeah there are hundreds or maybe even thousand white and dark horses in these parts", said the third female and my heart took a leap at her voice. I was so tempted to turn around but Chris shook his head at me so I didn't. I knew why he did it, if I turned they'd see my face. But Chris could peer at them over my shoulder while his hood shadowed his face from their eyes.
"I get it Tina", Noah said darkly. "But back at that glade the dark horse seriously nearly had me piss myself. It's creepy."
Chris sniggered and I smirked. Who is afraid of horses? Other than Eraman, she'll kill me for telling you that though so don't rat me out.
"She looked amazing though", the archer said. "But I liked the white one better."
"I like the boys better", the second girl said and the archer and Tina laughed with her.
"What about them", Noah asked.
"Yeah", the other male said. "There were nothing special with them."
"Except those eyes", Tina said.
"That skin", the second girl said.
"That hair", the archer said.
"Those strong looking arms", Tina said.
"Those amazing legs."
"Those agile movements", the second girl said.
"Imagine how flexible they have to bein bed", Tina teased and I felt myself blush and when I looked at Chris I had to laugh because his face was red and it got even redder when I realized the group of five was watching us.
"Knock it off!" Chris said in a deeper voice than normal. "It wasn't my fault!"
"No but it's still funny", I said with a lighter voice and the group must've turned away from us again, because Chris threw them a quick glance. We listened to them talk with half an ear because what they said wasn't that important. They mentioned some people and some plans they had. We figured out the other male was named Finn, the second girl was named Mercedes and the archer was named Rachel. They didn't get our attention again until Finn said:
"So where did general Schuester want to meet us?"
"Sch!" the other four hushed him fiercely. I knew they looked at us, I could feel it. Chris and I looked at each other. General Schuester could only be one person. The rebel leader, the leader of New Directions and the man we are looking for.
"Finn", Rachel scolded. "They can hear you!"
"If they did they would've heard Noah call their horse creepy", Finn said. "Besides we're five and they're two. We can force them to keep quiet if we have to."
I looked at Chris and he nodded, looking smug. I nodded too and stood up. I flung my hood back and turned to him.
"I don't think so Finn", I said and the five of them stared at me in shock.
"Shit", Noah swore and got up pulling an axe from his belt. I just looked at him.
"What's your problem", I asked.
"He probably think we really are psychos and will attack them out of nowhere", Chris giggled and I smiled at him slightly. Why? Well he had just made all five of them blush and I liked when he giggled like that. It reminded me of me and Wes' games when we were little. I turned back to the table where the five was sitting and I looked at them.
"We're not here to fight", I said calmly. "We just live here for the night before continuing our journey."
"I doubt that", Noah growled.
"If we were out to kill you we would've let the 'wolves' kill you back in the woods", Chris said calmly and drank from the water bottle he had in his belt. I was not allowing him drinking beer. He didn't protest because he hated wine and beer for some reason. I saw them blush even more at Chris' words. Rachel looked at her companions.
"Why", she began. "Um why don't you and your friend join us?"
"What?!" Finn and Noah yelled.
"You can tell us of your journey", Rachel continued.
"And where you're going", Mercedes added.
"And we're you're from", Tina said.
"Yeah", Finn said and grinned. "More guys like you in our ranks would be perfect!"
"Finn", the other four yelled but I just chuckled and then looked at Chris. He'd flung his hood back too now. He looked at me.
"What do you think", I asked and he looked at them and then shook his head. "Why not?"
"Because that girl Tina is holding a knife in her hand", he answered. "As soon as we sit down she'll put it to your throat and force you to do this or that and Noah will put the axe in my face doing the same."
"We wouldn't", Rachel began but Noah put his axe on the table and Tina the knife. "Oh…"
"We're not armed", I told them calmly and sat down beside Chris instead of opposite him.
"Speak for yourself", he muttered to me and I elbowed him in the side. "Ow!"
"Why don't you join us", I asked and smirked. "You can tell us where you're from and how to get in contact with general Schuester."
Noah slapped Finn up the head and Mercedes punched his arm. Finn yelped and glared at them, but his four companions were glaring back at him. I noticed the inn staff looking at us in fright.
"You know what", I told Chris. "I think this inn keeps spies."
"It does", he asked.
"Yeah, why else would the inn-keeper and his wife look so scared?"
He looked at them and then nodded.
"You're right", he said and got up. I followed and we left the inn, just like that and I know we must've confused Finn and the others. But as we got our horses and all our packing, we hadn't unpacked yet, they came out and stood in our way.
"What", Chris asked.
"You want to join the rebellion", Tina asked and looked at me and I felt myself blush.
"Yes", I said.
"Why", Noah asked.
"I am not telling you out in the open. Come along Chris, let's leave before more 'wolves' arrive."
We sat up and started to trot down the streets but Finn ran up beside us.
"Answer the question", he said.
"Are you stupid or something", Chris asked. "We're in the middle of a street that has the queen's banner hanging everywhere and her soldiers. We wanna live, so no."
"No one would touch us."
"Why not", I asked. "Don't take this wrong but the only scary thing about you is your stupidity."
"Hey!"
"What it's true", Chris said happily.
"Look", Finn said and grabbed my leg. "Meet us at Look Out Point tonight." He pointed at a mountain that was overlooking the city. "The rest will be there so we can thank you again and we'll tell you about Schue."
"We already know everything", I said with a smirk. "Except for how to find him."
With that Chris and I galloped away from Finn and then out of the city, but we stayed not too far away. We planned to sneak up to Look Out Point that night.
It was a starless and moonless night so it was rather hard to sneak through the undergrowth and trees. We'd left Emma and Callisto in a cave and decided to go on foot. Chris had better night-vision than me so he lead the way. But we still tripped a few times. But soon we arrived at Look Out Point. When we got there we saw a bunch of people around campfires.
They had weapons and packing everywhere and not a single tent. Chris and I looked at each other. We'd used earth and some camouflage colors to blend in better and we snuck really close to the camp. No one noticed us and we saw a dog there. We kept ourselves downwind from it and hoped that our nights and days in the wild would've made us and our clothes smell more like forest. The dog didn't seem to notice us and we saw Finn stand up.
"Everyone can I have your attention please", he called and the groups all walked up to the fire where he was sitting. Chris and I followed from the shadows. We counted two blonde girls, a girl with tan skin and black hair, Tina, Mercedes, Rachel and a red-brown haired girl.
"Seven girls", Chris whispered to me and I nodded. I counted he guys. It was Finn, Noah, a pale young man, a guy with bandages around both legs, another brunette guy, a blonde, a dark skinned guy and a guy with long hair.
"Seven guys", I said.
"Those guys we met when we lost Jacob Ben Israel and uh…" Finn scratched his head. "Floppy haired-guy were in this town."
There were mumbles all around.
"They were heading the same way as us it seems", Tina said.
"Why would they go to Westerville", one of the blonde girls asked.
"Well we don't know for sure if it's the direction their headed in Quinn", Rachel said and sighed. "All we know is that we are following their tracks."
"We also know that they are looking for Schuester", Noah said.
"What do you mean Puck", the pale young man with a very high-pitched voice asked.
"They told us they wanted to get in contact with Schue."
"How would they know you know him in the first place", the girl with long black hair asked.
"Because Finn is a: an idiot and b: a loud-mouth", Mercedes said and glared at Finn.
"I thought they couldn't hear us!" Finn objected.
"You spoke about Schue in the open?!" the pale young man yelled.
"Only at the inn and on the street…"
"WHAT?!" everyone else yelled at that, they sounded outraged and Chris and I smirked at each other. This was clearly just a bunch of thieving teenagers.
"Finn you're supposed to lead us", the pale young man yelled. "You can't keep making mistakes!"
"What mistakes have I done Kurt", Finn asked.
"You talk about Schue aloud", Kurt yelled. "Where spies can hear, you wanted to steal those horses those two psychos have and you wanted to attack those soldiers! Because of you Jacob and Paul died and we owe two psychos a debt each!"
"But-" Finn began.
"What did you say to them anyway", Rachel cut in and looked at him. "Out on the street."
"I told them to meet us here."
"You told someone about our hiding place?!" the guy with bandaged legs yelled. "That's not cool yo! We gotta pack the place up now!"
"Why?"
"Because the soldiers will be-"
We could all hear horses thundering up the hills.
"Coming", the guy finished with a groan and the teens started to work fast. They packed their stuff and was about to leave when the soldiers arrived. Chris and I hid so that we could help if they needed it. But they didn't seem to need it. It was only ten soldiers and the teens could get away easily… except for the guy with bandaged legs. Tina was helping him towards the cave behind them and when she got there an arrow hit her shoulder and she dropped him.
"Artie!" she shrieked as Finn grabbed her and pulled her inside, just as the cave-roof came crashing down. A door I figured, they had an escape route planned.
"Find them and kill them", the soldiers' commander yelled and the only ones alive of his ten soldiers left. He himself and a second soldier headed for this Artie guy, intent on killing him.
"Chris", I said and turned to him but he was gone. "Chris?" I looked around and saw him sneak up on the commander and other soldier with his sword drawn. I hurried up and got my bow out because I could hear foot soldiers coming up the hill. I heard a scream followed shortly by a second. I turned and saw that the men were dead.
"Hold it right there", the foot soldiers yelled and I let my arrows fly. It was only eight men and the ones that didn't fall for my arrows got taken care of by Chris' sword. But we heard more riders, probably people from the village that wanted to help. I looked at the horses and then to Chris who was helping Artie up.
"You okay", I asked Chris.
"Just peachy", he said. "Get onto the horse Mike and keep this guy with you."
"I have a name yo", Artie said.
"We know", I said and got up on the horse and helped Artie climb up and had him sit in front of me. Chris took the other horse.
"Hang on Artie", Chris said and we stormed down the hill, through the ranks of villagers and some soldiers. We didn't care though, because we only had flight in mind. The villagers threw themselves to the sides and some ended up in streams and such.
We soon reached Emma and Callisto. Chris flew off the commander's horse and sent it running away into the woods. It would make it, it's a horse after all.
"Can you ride on your own", I asked Artie as Chris prepared Emma's saddle and bridle and got the packings onto the horses' backs. Callisto's packing was tied around her stomach because Chris still didn't use saddle or bridle.
"No", Artie said sadly.
"Well you'll ride with me then", I said and got down from the horse and helped Artie get down. I sent the horse away and then carried Artie to Emma. Chris helped us get up and then mounted Callisto.
"Where to Artie", I asked him. "Where will your friends be."
"In Westerville", he answered. "Schue is there."
"Well we'll get you there", Chris said and smirked. "We need to meet him after all."
"Let's go", I said and Emma and Callisto started to run at my words and Artie stared at them.
"The horses understand you", he asked.
"We're from a village in Lima called Soulheim", I explained. "The people there bond with all the animals in a different way than other places. They are our best friends and they are incredibly intelligent. You saw Callisto over there trashing soldiers and you guys in that glade."
"That beast is evil", Artie said.
"Nah she's just a mare", Chris said happily. "They're all a little bitchy. Ow!" Callisto had jumped so Chris hit his head in a branch.
"See what I mean", I told Artie and he looked horrified at Callisto and then Emma. I chuckled. "Don't worry Artie, you ride with the Montchangs now."
Chris beamed at me when I included him in the family name. I told you he was my younger brother now, Wes had made him so. Why shouldn't ha have the family name? Artie still didn't look convinced but I ignored that. We had a long way to go before we reached Westerville and before we were safe from soldiers. But still… the three of us didn't know we were being watched and this time it was two of them.
"I still don't see how they can be of use your highness", one said calmly.
"I'm starting to doubt them too", answered the other. "But those two… and stop with the titles."
"Why? You're royal after all."
"No", the other said and when the moon came out seconds later and shone on the branch they'd been sitting on there was no one there.
TBC Who is that watching them?