Eep, it's been a long time since I updated this! Sorry to make you all wait for so long. Without any further delay, here is the R/M fluff I promised you so long ago.
=^..^=
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Roxton stood just outside of the cave, watching the shadows as they danced through the jungle before him. He was keeping watch while the others did their best to get some sleep. The snapping of a twig brought his riffle to his hand, and pointed towards the noise.
"Relax, it's just me." Marguerite sighed as she came out of the jungle.
"I thought you went to bed." Roxton spoke as he relaxed his grip on the gun. "What were you doing out there?"
"I dropped my necklace while Malone and I were out there earlier, so I thought I would go find it." The heiress shrugged.
"I would have gone with you, had you asked. It's not safe to be out there alone after dark, Marguerite. You know that." Roxton scolded her gently.
"I can take care of myself, John."
"Stupidity like that is eventually going to get you killed." Roxton snapped.
"And I'm sure you'd all just be *so* upset if some raptor decided to make a midnight snack out of me." Marguerite huffed as she turned away from the hunter.
Roxton stepped towards her.
"Is that really what you think?" He asked softly.
"It's not like any of you try to hide it. I'm just a pain, more trouble than I'm worth."
Marguerite turned back towards him, and Roxton could have sworn she had tears in her eyes.
"Just a spoiled little brat, isn't that what they say when I'm not around?" She murmured.
Roxton dropped his gun, and wrapped his arms around the woman in front of him, pulling her close.
"Oh, Marguerite, you know that isn't true." He spoke softly into her ear. "We wouldn't know what to do without you."
Roxton paused.
"*I* wouldn't know what to do without you." He whispered finally.
Roxton pulled away, and held Marguerite at arms length, trapping her eyes with his own.
"Marguerite, I love you." Roxton told her. "And I wouldn't be able to stand it if anything ever happened to you."
He caressed her cheek with his palm, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear that had spilled past her lashes.
"I love you." He repeated.
Marguerite blinked a few times, trying her best to keep any more tears from escaping. She had waited so long to hear him say it, and now she couldn't find the strength to say it back to him.
'I love you too.' Her mind screamed. 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..' until the words blurred together and seemed to loose all meaning.
She settled for kissing him instead, pouring all the words she couldn't say into him with as much passion as she could. Hopefully, he'd get the message.
~*~*~*~
Keira glanced out of the cave, looking for Roxton. The sun was just starting to peak it's head over the horizon, and breakfast was almost ready. A few feet from the cave, her eyes settled on him.
He sat with his back to a rather large tree trunk, with Marguerite cuddled against him, smiling in her sleep. They image they created was so perfect that Keira didn't want to disturb them. The smell of breakfast cooking would lure them in eventually. But for now, she would leave them to their sunrise. And with a smile on her face, Keira ducked back inside the cave.
~*~*~*~
"Did you let Roxton know that Breakfast was almost ready?" Malone asked as Keira re-appeared.
"Um.. He was busy." Keira supplied. "I figured the smell would draw them in eventually."
"Them?" Veronica asked, eyebrow raised.
"Marguerite was out there too." Keira smiled slightly.
"Well, I'm sure that they'll come in when they are ready." Challenger spoke, not even looking up from the food he was preparing.
"That smells good, what is it?" Keira asked as she drifted towards Challenger.
"Oh no you don't!" He exclaimed as he smacked her hand away. "You can wait just a few more minutes."
Keira rubbed her hand and sighed while Altais tired his best not to laugh at her.
~*~*~*~
Marguerite opened her eyes slowly, wondering why she wasn't inside the cave like she was supposed to be. Her body tensed, and for a split second she thought something bad had happened. But as she awoke fully, she realized where she was, and relaxed.
"Good morning." Roxton smiled at her.
"Morning." Marguerite returned with a smile of her own.
"Did you sleep all right." He asked.
"Yes, I slept just fine." She replied.
Roxton kissed her gently, and Marguerite found her insides shaking. It all just felt so right..
But all too quickly Roxton was pulling away from her, and helping her to her feet.
"It smells like breakfast is ready." He told her.
Marguerite just nodded and followed Roxton back towards the cave. Her arms wrapping around herself at the sudden chill the absence of his touch created within her.
~*~*~*~
"Ah, there you two are." Challenger greeted them as they entered the cave. "Another few minutes, and we'll be ready to eat."
"Something smells good. What are you making?" Marguerite asked.
"Don't try and take any." Keira warned. "He's very protective of the food."
"That sounds about right." Roxton laughed.
Marguerite took a seat near Veronica, and the younger woman smiled at her.
"Did you have a good night?" Keira asked Roxton innocently as he passed her.
Roxton glanced at her.
"Yes, it was all right." He answered evasively.
"Now, don't you feel better?" She pressed.
Roxton just smiled at her, shaking his head as he walked away.
"What was that about?" Malone asked curiously.
"Oh nothing.." Keira turned towards him. "And cut that out."
"What?" Malone looked confused.
"It's like you're keeping a moment-by-moment account of what happens, in your head. Only, it's so much more glorified." Keira told him.
Malone regarded her blankly.
Keira sighed.
"Sure, you notice how the sunlight moves with the shadows in the corners of the cave, but while you can notice the details with such an eye, the more obvious things seem to slip past you un-noticed. You might want to do something about that." Keira flashed him a smile before walking away, leaving Malone completely confused.
~*~*~*~
Roxton brought up the rear of the party, keeping an eye on things. They had been traveling for most of the day, and the sun was just about ready to dip back below the horizon for another few hours. Soon, they would have to stop and find someplace relatively safe to stay for the night.
His gaze drifted over the members of his party. They were all there, except for Altais, whom Roxton still did not trust completely.
For a good part of the time the explorers had spent walking, Keira and Altais had remained next to each other, heads close, and voices low as they discussed the current state of Keira's realm. Apparently, the little princess had been away longer than they had been lead to believe. It had been two years since the young girl had set foot inside the boundaries of her home. And so, the two remained close as Altais told her what to expect.
But now, he was nowhere to be found. Everyone else was there.. Marguerite seemed to be arguing with Malone about something, while Veronica tried her best to get the two of them to shut-up. Meanwhile, Challenger and Keira appeared to be talking about some scientific theory of Challenger's that the Keira's people had disproved.
Roxton stopped while the others continued forward. While he did not trust the newest member of their party, he knew Keira would be devastated if anything were to happen to Altais. With a sigh, Roxton went in search of him.
~*~*~*~
"Hold on a minute." Marguerite stopped. "Where's Roxton?"
The others stopped too, looking around. But they couldn't see Roxton anywhere.
"Altais is gone too." Veronica noted.
"Where do you think they.." Malone started.
But before he could finish his sentence, Altais stumbled forward and fell to the path. Roxton followed him, his rifle pointed at Altais.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Keira exclaimed.
"Maybe you should ask him that." Roxton said angrily. "I caught him marking the trail."
The others looked shocked, all except for Keira.
"Of course he's marking the trail." She sighed. "How else are my brother's hunters supposed to find us?"
At the looks she received, Keira quickly explained what was happening.
"If we just walk into my brother's realm, he'll kill us on sight. This way, he will think he's captured us, and we might get to live long enough to over-power him." Keira told them. "Altais is marking the trail because I asked him to. He would never betray me."
"And just when were you planning on telling us about this?" Marguerite demanded. "Before, or after your brother killed us?"
"I didn't ask for your help." Keira reminded her. "You don't need to stay here. We'll be fine on our own."
"And how are just the two of you supposed to over-throw a king" Challenger asked.
"We'll figure out a way." Altais spoke as he lifted himself off of the ground. "Now that you know the dangers, we cannot ask you to stay."
"How far behind us are they?" Veronica asked.
"A few hours at most." Keira told her. "They plan to attack us during the night, when we stop to make camp."
"Good. That'll give us time to get away from here." Marguerite smiled slightly.
"We can't just leave them." Malone shook his head.
"He's right Marguerite. We've already said we would help them." Roxton agreed with Ned. "They don't stand a chance on their own."
"They're going to get us killed!" Marguerite snapped. "And I'm not ready to die just yet."
"You don't have to come with us." Challenger told her.
"Oh sure, you'll protect these two with your lives, but me you'll abandon." Marguerite muttered.
"Get down!" Roxton exclaimed suddenly, tackling Marguerite.
An arrow flew over their heads, barely missing them. And a moment later, another arrow flew right into Altais' leg.
"It's my brother's men!" Keira exclaimed as she supported Altais.
Six men stepped from the jungle around them, seemingly materializing from the shadows. And with them, stepped a man who was obviously their leader. He wore a black animal hide outfit, covered in armor, with a sword in his hand.
"Come on now, did you really think I'd let you just walk back into my kingdom?" He laughed as he moved towards Keira.
"That's far enough." Malone warned as he raised his gun.
"Your friends would be dead before you even pulled the trigger." Keira's brother sneered. "Drop your weapons!"
Under the watchful eye of the bowman, the explorers reluctantly let their weapons fall to the ground. Keira's eyes were blazing with anger as her brother closed the gap between them.
"Ah, Keira." Her brother sighed with pretend melancholy. "How I've missed you. The kingdom just hasn't been the same without you." As he spoke, he reached down to the arrow that stuck out of Altais' leg and twisted it roughly, causing the older warrior to gasp in pain as he slipped from Keira's arms.
Keira let her love fall gently to the ground, and before her brother could even blink, she had tackled him and held a rather sharp knife to his jugular.
"I'm so glad you've decided to make this easy for me, Keriko." She hissed at him, her eyes wild with furry.
Keriko chuckled, making the knife cutting him slightly.
"Kill me, and you know that none of you will make it out of here alive." He warned her.
"It would be well worth it." Keira assured him.
"And do your new friends feel the same way?"
Keira closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. And even as the knife was slipping from her fingers, two of her brother's men were coming forward and pulling her away from their king. One of them hit her upside the head with his crossbow, and Keira fell as a ton of bricks might. Quickly, and with little grace.
"Keira!" Altais cried out as she fell.
"Oh relax." Keriko snapped. "She isn't dead. Well, not yet anyway."
The rest of the party was quickly rounded up and restrained.
"Put them in the cages. We move out in an hour." Keriko ordered. "You!" He exclaimed as he pointed at one of his men. "Ride ahead and let them know that we've been victorious. Tell them to start the preparations."
"Preparations for what, exactly?" Marguerite asked, her voice dipped in fake calm.
"Why, your executions of course." he replied sweetly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*Gasp*! Can this really be the end of our beloved explorers? You'll have to keep reading to find out. It might take me awhile to get the next chapter uploaded as I have no idea where to take this. Eep. But, anyway, review this chapter and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Dai stiho
~CrimsonCat~
=^..^=
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Roxton stood just outside of the cave, watching the shadows as they danced through the jungle before him. He was keeping watch while the others did their best to get some sleep. The snapping of a twig brought his riffle to his hand, and pointed towards the noise.
"Relax, it's just me." Marguerite sighed as she came out of the jungle.
"I thought you went to bed." Roxton spoke as he relaxed his grip on the gun. "What were you doing out there?"
"I dropped my necklace while Malone and I were out there earlier, so I thought I would go find it." The heiress shrugged.
"I would have gone with you, had you asked. It's not safe to be out there alone after dark, Marguerite. You know that." Roxton scolded her gently.
"I can take care of myself, John."
"Stupidity like that is eventually going to get you killed." Roxton snapped.
"And I'm sure you'd all just be *so* upset if some raptor decided to make a midnight snack out of me." Marguerite huffed as she turned away from the hunter.
Roxton stepped towards her.
"Is that really what you think?" He asked softly.
"It's not like any of you try to hide it. I'm just a pain, more trouble than I'm worth."
Marguerite turned back towards him, and Roxton could have sworn she had tears in her eyes.
"Just a spoiled little brat, isn't that what they say when I'm not around?" She murmured.
Roxton dropped his gun, and wrapped his arms around the woman in front of him, pulling her close.
"Oh, Marguerite, you know that isn't true." He spoke softly into her ear. "We wouldn't know what to do without you."
Roxton paused.
"*I* wouldn't know what to do without you." He whispered finally.
Roxton pulled away, and held Marguerite at arms length, trapping her eyes with his own.
"Marguerite, I love you." Roxton told her. "And I wouldn't be able to stand it if anything ever happened to you."
He caressed her cheek with his palm, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear that had spilled past her lashes.
"I love you." He repeated.
Marguerite blinked a few times, trying her best to keep any more tears from escaping. She had waited so long to hear him say it, and now she couldn't find the strength to say it back to him.
'I love you too.' Her mind screamed. 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..' until the words blurred together and seemed to loose all meaning.
She settled for kissing him instead, pouring all the words she couldn't say into him with as much passion as she could. Hopefully, he'd get the message.
~*~*~*~
Keira glanced out of the cave, looking for Roxton. The sun was just starting to peak it's head over the horizon, and breakfast was almost ready. A few feet from the cave, her eyes settled on him.
He sat with his back to a rather large tree trunk, with Marguerite cuddled against him, smiling in her sleep. They image they created was so perfect that Keira didn't want to disturb them. The smell of breakfast cooking would lure them in eventually. But for now, she would leave them to their sunrise. And with a smile on her face, Keira ducked back inside the cave.
~*~*~*~
"Did you let Roxton know that Breakfast was almost ready?" Malone asked as Keira re-appeared.
"Um.. He was busy." Keira supplied. "I figured the smell would draw them in eventually."
"Them?" Veronica asked, eyebrow raised.
"Marguerite was out there too." Keira smiled slightly.
"Well, I'm sure that they'll come in when they are ready." Challenger spoke, not even looking up from the food he was preparing.
"That smells good, what is it?" Keira asked as she drifted towards Challenger.
"Oh no you don't!" He exclaimed as he smacked her hand away. "You can wait just a few more minutes."
Keira rubbed her hand and sighed while Altais tired his best not to laugh at her.
~*~*~*~
Marguerite opened her eyes slowly, wondering why she wasn't inside the cave like she was supposed to be. Her body tensed, and for a split second she thought something bad had happened. But as she awoke fully, she realized where she was, and relaxed.
"Good morning." Roxton smiled at her.
"Morning." Marguerite returned with a smile of her own.
"Did you sleep all right." He asked.
"Yes, I slept just fine." She replied.
Roxton kissed her gently, and Marguerite found her insides shaking. It all just felt so right..
But all too quickly Roxton was pulling away from her, and helping her to her feet.
"It smells like breakfast is ready." He told her.
Marguerite just nodded and followed Roxton back towards the cave. Her arms wrapping around herself at the sudden chill the absence of his touch created within her.
~*~*~*~
"Ah, there you two are." Challenger greeted them as they entered the cave. "Another few minutes, and we'll be ready to eat."
"Something smells good. What are you making?" Marguerite asked.
"Don't try and take any." Keira warned. "He's very protective of the food."
"That sounds about right." Roxton laughed.
Marguerite took a seat near Veronica, and the younger woman smiled at her.
"Did you have a good night?" Keira asked Roxton innocently as he passed her.
Roxton glanced at her.
"Yes, it was all right." He answered evasively.
"Now, don't you feel better?" She pressed.
Roxton just smiled at her, shaking his head as he walked away.
"What was that about?" Malone asked curiously.
"Oh nothing.." Keira turned towards him. "And cut that out."
"What?" Malone looked confused.
"It's like you're keeping a moment-by-moment account of what happens, in your head. Only, it's so much more glorified." Keira told him.
Malone regarded her blankly.
Keira sighed.
"Sure, you notice how the sunlight moves with the shadows in the corners of the cave, but while you can notice the details with such an eye, the more obvious things seem to slip past you un-noticed. You might want to do something about that." Keira flashed him a smile before walking away, leaving Malone completely confused.
~*~*~*~
Roxton brought up the rear of the party, keeping an eye on things. They had been traveling for most of the day, and the sun was just about ready to dip back below the horizon for another few hours. Soon, they would have to stop and find someplace relatively safe to stay for the night.
His gaze drifted over the members of his party. They were all there, except for Altais, whom Roxton still did not trust completely.
For a good part of the time the explorers had spent walking, Keira and Altais had remained next to each other, heads close, and voices low as they discussed the current state of Keira's realm. Apparently, the little princess had been away longer than they had been lead to believe. It had been two years since the young girl had set foot inside the boundaries of her home. And so, the two remained close as Altais told her what to expect.
But now, he was nowhere to be found. Everyone else was there.. Marguerite seemed to be arguing with Malone about something, while Veronica tried her best to get the two of them to shut-up. Meanwhile, Challenger and Keira appeared to be talking about some scientific theory of Challenger's that the Keira's people had disproved.
Roxton stopped while the others continued forward. While he did not trust the newest member of their party, he knew Keira would be devastated if anything were to happen to Altais. With a sigh, Roxton went in search of him.
~*~*~*~
"Hold on a minute." Marguerite stopped. "Where's Roxton?"
The others stopped too, looking around. But they couldn't see Roxton anywhere.
"Altais is gone too." Veronica noted.
"Where do you think they.." Malone started.
But before he could finish his sentence, Altais stumbled forward and fell to the path. Roxton followed him, his rifle pointed at Altais.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Keira exclaimed.
"Maybe you should ask him that." Roxton said angrily. "I caught him marking the trail."
The others looked shocked, all except for Keira.
"Of course he's marking the trail." She sighed. "How else are my brother's hunters supposed to find us?"
At the looks she received, Keira quickly explained what was happening.
"If we just walk into my brother's realm, he'll kill us on sight. This way, he will think he's captured us, and we might get to live long enough to over-power him." Keira told them. "Altais is marking the trail because I asked him to. He would never betray me."
"And just when were you planning on telling us about this?" Marguerite demanded. "Before, or after your brother killed us?"
"I didn't ask for your help." Keira reminded her. "You don't need to stay here. We'll be fine on our own."
"And how are just the two of you supposed to over-throw a king" Challenger asked.
"We'll figure out a way." Altais spoke as he lifted himself off of the ground. "Now that you know the dangers, we cannot ask you to stay."
"How far behind us are they?" Veronica asked.
"A few hours at most." Keira told her. "They plan to attack us during the night, when we stop to make camp."
"Good. That'll give us time to get away from here." Marguerite smiled slightly.
"We can't just leave them." Malone shook his head.
"He's right Marguerite. We've already said we would help them." Roxton agreed with Ned. "They don't stand a chance on their own."
"They're going to get us killed!" Marguerite snapped. "And I'm not ready to die just yet."
"You don't have to come with us." Challenger told her.
"Oh sure, you'll protect these two with your lives, but me you'll abandon." Marguerite muttered.
"Get down!" Roxton exclaimed suddenly, tackling Marguerite.
An arrow flew over their heads, barely missing them. And a moment later, another arrow flew right into Altais' leg.
"It's my brother's men!" Keira exclaimed as she supported Altais.
Six men stepped from the jungle around them, seemingly materializing from the shadows. And with them, stepped a man who was obviously their leader. He wore a black animal hide outfit, covered in armor, with a sword in his hand.
"Come on now, did you really think I'd let you just walk back into my kingdom?" He laughed as he moved towards Keira.
"That's far enough." Malone warned as he raised his gun.
"Your friends would be dead before you even pulled the trigger." Keira's brother sneered. "Drop your weapons!"
Under the watchful eye of the bowman, the explorers reluctantly let their weapons fall to the ground. Keira's eyes were blazing with anger as her brother closed the gap between them.
"Ah, Keira." Her brother sighed with pretend melancholy. "How I've missed you. The kingdom just hasn't been the same without you." As he spoke, he reached down to the arrow that stuck out of Altais' leg and twisted it roughly, causing the older warrior to gasp in pain as he slipped from Keira's arms.
Keira let her love fall gently to the ground, and before her brother could even blink, she had tackled him and held a rather sharp knife to his jugular.
"I'm so glad you've decided to make this easy for me, Keriko." She hissed at him, her eyes wild with furry.
Keriko chuckled, making the knife cutting him slightly.
"Kill me, and you know that none of you will make it out of here alive." He warned her.
"It would be well worth it." Keira assured him.
"And do your new friends feel the same way?"
Keira closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. And even as the knife was slipping from her fingers, two of her brother's men were coming forward and pulling her away from their king. One of them hit her upside the head with his crossbow, and Keira fell as a ton of bricks might. Quickly, and with little grace.
"Keira!" Altais cried out as she fell.
"Oh relax." Keriko snapped. "She isn't dead. Well, not yet anyway."
The rest of the party was quickly rounded up and restrained.
"Put them in the cages. We move out in an hour." Keriko ordered. "You!" He exclaimed as he pointed at one of his men. "Ride ahead and let them know that we've been victorious. Tell them to start the preparations."
"Preparations for what, exactly?" Marguerite asked, her voice dipped in fake calm.
"Why, your executions of course." he replied sweetly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*Gasp*! Can this really be the end of our beloved explorers? You'll have to keep reading to find out. It might take me awhile to get the next chapter uploaded as I have no idea where to take this. Eep. But, anyway, review this chapter and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Dai stiho
~CrimsonCat~
