Chapter 7

I nervously went up to the back door where Pitch came out and knocked in the same fashion he did.

After a bit of waiting, the door opened and I found myself staring face to face with Hans, the skinny guy.

When he saw me at the door, he made a face like someone vomited on his doorstep.

"Who are you?" He rudely asked.

"What do you want? We don't rent!"

I was terrified, Hans was so powerful, he could break me in half without really trying! If I hadn't anticipated this, I would have scraped the plan and ran for home, but I had to be brave.

I set my face into a bitter look.

"Who I am is none of your concern." I said, bitterly, in a voice similar to Pitch's.

"Just tell me, is this the base of Iron Ore?"

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Who wants to know?"

I managed to keep my cool. "Lets just say I have a score to settle."

"So you want to join?" Hans asked.

"Did I stutter?" I rudely asked, surprised at myself.

Hans smirked. "I see, well, I have a few questions for you, what is your name?"

I pushed past him, trying to hide the fear on my face.

"My name is of no importance."

Even Hans seemed surprised.

"Well, what's YOUR beef?" He asked.

I turned. "I have been wronged. My family and my home have been taken away from me by The Five. I want my revenge!"

Hans nodded. "Okay, you seem to have the right amount of hatred... but how do I know you aren't really a girl dressed as a guy to be a double agent?"

I panicked. I hadn't considered this question. I searched my brain for a tell-tale way, until it came to me.

Turning to Hans, I lifted up my shirt and dropped my pants.

Hans's eyes widened.

I don't know if it was because of my bravery, or if it was because he could see every individual bone in my body, or because of my fake leg.

Finally, I pulled my clothes back on, feeling a little more than self conscious. Hans blinked a bit then shook his head.

"O...Okay, you're legitimate. Come on, we need to get some food into you."

As we headed into another room, Hans turned to me again.

"My name is Hans. I am the leader of Iron Ore... but you knew that already, huh? Every one knows MY name if they come to join Iron Ore."

I nodded.

Suddenly, Hans paused.

"Hold it!" He yelled.

I paused.

"You are a blacksmith, are you not?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

I froze. I was in trouble.

"Blacksmith?" I asked, trying not to give myself away.

"You are wearing the clothing of a blacksmith."

I racked my brain for an idea, then one finally came.

"I had my clothes stolen from me on my journey. As I was looking for the base, I found a dead blacksmith by the sidewalk. I figured, he didn't need his clothing."

Hans laughed.

"You are one messed up guy!" He replied.

"Have some lunch, then you'll need to train. We have a battle against The Five in one week."

After a lunch that looked and tasted way better than Merida's cooking, I was put through hard labour which included learning the proper way of using a sword, (Already knew it), how to dodge, (Already knew it) and the best way to win a war (Didn't know that, but whatever).

I had to ask one question.

"Hans?"

We had finished training, and as a newbie, I was ordered to be the housemaid for a day.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Why is Pitch dressed up as his sister? That's disgusting!"

Hans turned and shot me a bizarre look.

"Gothel is the reason this whole thing started. When I was little, I would play with Pitch and Gothel. I was an orphan, you see, and their parents kindly took me in. One day, Pitch and I were getting ice cream for the three of us. Gothel chose to stay outside and play. When we came outside, we saw a group of women doing something horrible to her. We couldn't do anything, as we were too frightened, but when they finished, Gothel was almost unrecognizable, screaming in pain. By the time help came, Gothel was already dead."

My eyes widened, then I remembered my mask and put on a blank face.

"I asked why Pitch cross-dresses, not his freaking life story."

Hans shook his head as if trying to clear his ears of water.

"Forgive me for being sentimental. Anyway, that day, Pitch became a misogynist. He wanted to form a war, as revenge for his sister's death, but no one would take a little boy seriously, so Pitch took some of Gothel's clothes and stole a black wig that was closest to Gothel's hair and took her name and identity. There, he found many orphaned girls, and pumped them full of hatred. As he's my best friend, I did the same with the boys. We've vowed to avenge his sister's death by killing one girl per drop of blood Gothel spilled."

"But that's the whole female population!" I cried out, before I could stop myself.

"That's the point." Hans grinned, evilly.

When the day ended, my belly felt unusually full, but my body felt sore from what I was put through, and my head was spinning from what I learned.

Hans led me to a room that was on the top floor. It was the library, but he said I could make do.

After Hans got me some bedding, I looked around the library, looking for clues on how to defeat Pitch.

After a bit of hunting, I stumbled upon a locked book that read "The Diary of Pitch."

Jackpot!

I gingerly took it off the shelf and examined it.

I may not be a locksmith, but I knew a thing or two about picking locks. I held out my pinky, tiny and thin from starvation, and using my nail, began to pick the lock. After a bit, I heard a soft 'click' and the book fell open on my lap.

I calmly began flipping through the book, looking for some sign, a clue, a secret weakness, anything to end the war! But to my dismay, all that was written was how after Gothel was killed, the hatred he bared was hammered into him.

Nothing different from what Hans told me.

I sighed sadly. The book was of no use.

I managed to relock it before anyone noticed, put the book back on the shelf and tried to sleep.

That night, I had a restless sleep.

Every time my eyes closed, I just pictured Merida and the look of disappointment on her face.

A look of hurt.

A look of anger!

Finally, I went to sleep.

As the days passed, The mornings, I ate well and every night, I would flip through books, looking for a weakness for Pitch.

Finally, one morning, Hans woke me up earlier then I'm used to.

"Wha?" I asked, not being used to being awoken at 3 in the morning.

"We have a battle to fight!" Hans whispered.

"Get dressed!"