"Arthur… Why do we have to wake up so early?" Alfred complained, leaning on Arthur's shoulder.

"If you would prefer to walk, you may," Arthur chuckled. They were sitting in a carriage, one of a couple, actually, that was in the vast group of knights and soldiers on its way to meet the military of Clubs. "And if you're so tired, you should go back to sleep."

"Well, for one thing," Alfred stated, "I'm way too excited to even try to sleep. For another, what if we get under attack. If I'm asleep, my reaction time will be slower to save you and that's not acceptable for a hero."

"Sure it isn't," Arthur shook his head. Ella was sleeping on the empty cushion in front of them in the carriage. Arthur had decided it wasn't smart to wake her up, so just picked her up and brought her into the carriage.

"So," Alfred said, staring at the ceiling. "How's this gonna work exactly? Do we, like, show up and go into an epic battle or something?"

"We get to a spot more or less ahead of them," Arthur stated. "We set up camp. And then we wait. When they get close, then you can have your fight. But I would really appreciate it if you tried to stay away from the major battles."

"I'll do that if you do it," Alfred grinned.

"You're making things so difficult," Arthur groaned. "And I feel bad for poor Yao, he's being forced to basically work out everything on his own."

"Well, he's got Francis and Ludwig," Alfred shrugged. "I mean, it's not like he's totally alone."

"More alone than he should be," Arthur sighed, shaking his head. He looked out the window of the carriage and saw that it was still pretty dark, but the sun was starting to come up.

"I do feel kinda bad for just sitting here while everyone out there is walking," Alfred sighed.

"You know, love, me, too," Arthur stated. The men (and few women) didn't exactly look exhausted yet, but then again they hadn't been walking for too long… "Come on, then," Arthur grinned and opened the door of the carriage, letting in the cool air of morning and jumped out, even though the carriage was moving. Despite all of the soldiers around him staring at him, he just stared straight ahead and started walking.

"Dude!" Alfred burst out laughing, his head poking out of the carriage, which was moving at a slightly faster pace than Arthur was walking, so it was ahead of him. "That's freaking awesome!"

"Are you going to come out?" Arthur asked.

"Sure," Alfred laughed and jumped out of the carriage, too. His crown tilted slightly and Arthur helped him fix it.

"Well, isn't that brave of you?" a female snickered next to them. "Walking out in the cold, next to all of us."

"Sorry I didn't think of it sooner," Arthur smiled, staring up at the still slightly starry sky. "I hardly ever get to see outside…"

"Yeah, I have a feeling the Royals are banned from being outside," Alfred laughed.

"So, you've just come out for the view?" the woman's voice asked and Arthur finally looked over to her. She had bright blonde hair and green eyes, very beautiful. She had a bow and quiver slung over her shoulders.

"Well, I figured he should walk with all of you, too," Arthur said politely. "What makes us any different than you, other than a title?"

"Well, look at that!" Matthias chimed happily on the other side of them and leaned an arm on Alfred's shoulder. "I was wondering how long it would take you to hop out! My team didn't even accept their carriage."

"I was too tired to argue," Alfred yawned. "I hate mornings."

"Poor baby," the archer laughed.

"And what's your name, gorgeous?" Matthias perked up and looked over Alfred and Arthur at her.

"Evelyn," she replied, slightly flirtatiously.

"And this would be why we put Matthias up in the front," Arthur shook his head disapprovingly. Luckily, all the archers were placed in the middle and back regiments.

"Hey, I still got a chance with that medic," Matthias winked.

"There you are, you idiot," a new voice panted, like he had been running. Arthur glanced behind him and saw a young man, maybe in his 20s, with blonde hair with a curl coming off it and blue eyes. He looked slightly irritated.

"Oh, hey, Lukas," Matthias laughed, barely glancing behind him. "I just came over here because the Royalty finally came out to play."

"You really shouldn't have left us," another voice said irritatedly. Again, Arthur looked back and saw a young man with white hair and blue eyes.

"Is everyone coming?" Matthias asked. "Because I would prefer to introduce you all at the same time."

"Ja, we are here," yet another voice said. When Arthur looked around this time, though, there were two people. They were both blonde, but one was far taller than the other. The shorter one had brown eyes and looked very hyper. The taller one had blue eyes covered by glasses and looked very…stoic. The tall one was the one who had spoken.

"We were wondering where you ran off to, Matthias," the shorter one smiled.

"Okay," Matthias put his arms behind his head. "Queenie and Alfred, this is my team. The grumpy blonde is Lukas and the cranky dude with white hair is Emil. The tall one is Berwald and his partner is Toni."

"Don't call me Queenie," Arthur sighed.

"I kinda like it," Alfred grinned and wrapped an arm around Arthur's shoulders.

"Don't call me that," Arthur hissed.

"Oh, so you're the King and Queen?" Tino asked excitedly and immediately went up and shook their hands.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Berwald nodded towards them. Arthur noticed that they were all wearing the foot soldier uniform of Spades. A simple blue tunic and purple pants with black boots. Everyone wore that except for the real knights. Matthias should be wearing a suit of armor with the knights, but he apparently settled for the boots and elbow and knee pads. Alfred and Arthur were even wearing the basic uniform so as not to draw attention to themselves. Their crowns would come off when they made camp.

"Likewise," Arthur nodded and noticed that the other two decided to stay quiet. "I've heard about your team, but I'm curious, what are each of your specialties?"

"I've got archery," Emil stated. "I just left my bow and arrow in the carriage."

"Hand-to-hand combat," Berwald stated.

"I'm the medic!" Tino chirped happily.

"Magic," Lukas muttered.

"So, you're finally coming out with it, eh?" Matthias laughed and patted him on the back.

"Shut up, idiot," Lukas snapped at him.

"So you do know magic," Arthur nodded. "There have been a few coming out with it ever since I've been claimed 'insane'."

"Hey, speaking of that, I'm curious," Matthias stared up at the sky. "What kind of treatment did they do to you? I've heard about a lot, but you seem very alive, so I'm wondering what they did."

"Uh, Artie doesn't like talking about-" Alfred started, but Arthur cut him off.

"It's fine," Arthur sighed. He would have to get over it eventually. "It was the water treatment."

"Oh, right," Matthias nodded, like it made so much sense.

"Sorry, that sounds harsh," Tino's attitude deflated slightly.

"You shouldn't worry about it," Arthur chuckled. "I don't quite care anymore."

"And he's got me to protect him," Alfred hugged him tightly from the side. "So he knows he's safe."

"You guys are so cute!" Tino gushed happily.

"Um…thank you," Arthur laughed.

"There you are," Ella's voice sighed deeply as she flew up, right in Arthur's face. "You had me worried sick! First I wake up and find that I'm not even in the castle anymore! How could you not have woken me up? And then I find the carriage empty? You're such a bastard."

"Calm down, Ella," Arthur chuckled.

"I see they didn't knock all the crazy outta ya," Matthias laughed and lightly knocked on Arthur's head.

"He's not crazy," Lukas snapped at him. "You just can't see her."

"Oh, so it's contagious," Matthias laughed and side-stepped. "I see."

"You're hilarious," Arthur muttered sarcastically.

"What's up with Ella?" Alfred asked.

"She just freaked out when she woke up because we weren't there," Arthur laughed.

"You should have woken me up early," Ella stomped her foot in the air and turned her back to Arthur.

"She seems a little stressed out," Alfred stated as the team of five started their own conversation.

"It's the war," Arthur chuckled at how childish Ella was acting.

"Makes sense," Alfred laughed. "I'm starting to feel nervous, too…"

"Yes, well, I have no idea how this will turn out in the first place," Arthur muttered. "Even though we have the advantage, I just know that Clubs has something planned. But, I don't know what."

"Yeah, I know how you feel…" Alfred stared off into the sky and Arthur did the same. Almost like they were agreeing with their conversation, the clouds were gathering in a dark gray color.


Okay, so I got three chapters written yesterday! I'm so proud of myself! That's what happens when you buckle down at sit at your computer all day. I'm not kidding, I left it to eat and get dressed, that was it. Anyway! They're on their way to the war now and the next chapter they get to see it for the first time. Also...so...many...characters... Why? Writing with more than even just four characters is evil. But that amount was killer!

Tell me how I did in an awesome review! I'll love you forever!