A/N: I'm back! Yay!! Here's more story for you impatient people!
***Pages' View***
It had been at least two hours, maybe more, since the Scanrans had raided the camp and the one they had captured kept waking up, so they had to knock him unconscious again by hitting him with a shield. It was crude, but effective, and allowed them to take their anger out on something else than each other, although Devic had already punched the kid that didn't like Phi after he said that he was glad she was taken.
Devic had took control of the group and became the unassigned leader after he knocked the other page out, and had the other pages and himself scavenge around the smoking debris that used to be their supplies to try and look for food. He was just about to give up when the entire camp heard the sound of approaching hoof beats again. Everyone froze and paled, thinking that the Scanrans were returning to get their man back and the pages almost shot Alanna with an arrow as she came hurdling into the campsite.
Her horse reared up, "Put down your arms! For the sake of the gods, don't shoot us!!"
The pages dropped their weapons and blushed and watched as the camp filled with knights and their horses. Tom was the first to dismount, and Devic ran to catch him as he practically fell out of the saddle. Tom quickly picked himself up and brushed himself off, looking towards Alanna to make sure that he didn't have to go back to the Palace because of it. She looked away, and he took that as a good sign. He then turned to Devic and grabbed the kid by the shoulders, "What happened to Phi and Alex?!"
Devic looked down at his feet and his hair fell into his dirt smeared face as he muttered, "The Scanran troops raided our campsite...they took Phi and Alex with them..."
Tom released the boy and sat down heavily onto the ground, resting his head in his hands. He had hoped that he had been wrong, that his vision was just a nightmare...but now that he saw the camp in real life, he knew that it had all been real.
Kel and the rest of her friends dismounted and walked around the camp and Duke Baird made sure all the pages were all right. Kel walked over and sat down next to Tom, "There is nothing you could've done Tom..." A tear fell from Devic's eye and she looked up, surprised, "What is it?"
"Maybe...he couldn't of done something, but I could have...but I just stood there...I couldn't move, I was useless."
Tom lifted his head and looked the boy straight in the eyes, "You did the best you could and no one could've asked you to do anything more..."
That finally broke Devic down and he fell into the older boys arms and began to sob quietly. Kel nodded, "It happens to all of us in our first fight...we call it 'seeing the kraken'...it just happened a little to early for you..." She stood up and walked towards Alanna while Tom hugged Devic and patted him on the back, his older brother instincts taking over.
Alanna turned just as Kel reached her horse, looking very worn, and asked kindly "Is there something I can do for you Lady Keldarly?"
The woman nodded, "Yes...you can tell me where the hell the King's Own is...these poor children, they should not have seen battle this early, they were not ready for the horrors of war, even from a small battle such as this..."
Alanna nodded knowingly, "I agree. All we can do now though is wait until they find the camp, which shouldn't be long if HaMich is with them..." she sighed and dismounted, her armor hitting hard against the packed earth. She removed her helmet slowly, "Believe me, I want to know where are as much as you do..."
Kel grimaced and wandered over to Merric and Owen who were comforting a small group of the boys.
Nearly another hour had passed before the forest came alive again with more hoof beats. The knights drew their swords and stood near their horses but were quickly put to ease when they saw HaMich followed closely by the King's Own enter the clearing. Alanna sheathed her sword last and walked up to the leader of the Own and glared.
The riders of the Own stared in disbelief at the pages camp before slowly dismounting. Lord Rauol was the last to get down, but was somewhat reluctant to do so with the Lioness standing right next to his horse in full body armor, her hand on her sword, and her eyes glittering dangerously. He could fit a giant, but the Lady knight was another matter altogether, "Alanna, what happened here?"
"Well you would know if you had been here!" She pulled the leader of the Own away from the staring crowd and continued to scold him, "Where were you?!"
"We were looking for the Scanran army...they kept on changing their course and they proved extremely hard to follow..."
"Yes well guess where they went?" Rauol winced, guessing what was coming next, "They came into the FIRST YEAR PAGES CAMP!!! and you know what else? They CAPTURED Phiona and Alexander!"
As Alanna continued to yell at her old friend, back at camp Dom crossed over to Kel, "Kel! What are you doing here? And what happened?"
HaMich came over, "What happened to Phiona and Alex? I put them in charge here!"
Kel sighed, "You know those Scanrans you were tracking?..."
Dom nodded, "Yes...Oh gods...you mean?" Kel looked at him sadly, "Mithros..."
The training master paled, "Is anyone injured?"
Kel shook her head as Dom rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand, "I don't know...none of the pages at least..."
"What do you mean you don't know? Where are Phi and Alex? Did...did the Scanrans kill them?"
Kel shook her head a second time, "Hopefully not...they were captured though..."
Dom swore and threw his hands up in the air, "Perfect! That must be what the Lioness is yelling at Rauol for..."
Duke Baird walked by, "Hello Dom..."
Dom did a double take, "Hello uncle...Uncle?! What are you doing here?"
The duke smiled, "I'm taking care of my patient, over there..." He pointed at Tom who had by now released Devic and was sitting with the boy and Esmond.
**Alex and Phi's View***
Alex shook his head and forced his eyes to open. Suddenly, a huge bump jolted him awake and he sot up, almost falling backwards off of the back of a large horse.
He was sitting behind a big man with a very large and pointy looking axe on his back and Alex could make out Phi sitting in front of another man, awake. She looked fine, except when he looked more carefully he could see a thin scratch running horizontally on her neck. He wanted to wave to let her know he was awake, but realized that he hands were bound and he couldn't move a muscle. He glared, unnoticed, at his guard, but finally gave up struggling after realizing that even if he somehow got loose, the rider's horses were making so much thundering noise that Phi probably wouldn't even hear him.
She looked around and he was able to catch her eye out of luck. She smiled dryly, happy to see he was all right, but not to pleased with the current circumstances. She hated being the 'damsel in distress' and was currently yelling to herself in her mind about being more on guard and for being taken so easily.
For the next hour or so, Phi and Alex had to be satisfied by just being able to look at a friendly face and once and a while mouthing words to each other.
Finally, they reached a large, cold looking river and the riders stopped to make camp. They unloaded their horses and set their things on wooden pallets, including Phi and Alex., then started a fire, seemingly waiting for something.
Alex crawled his way over to Phi, which was very difficult to do with out using his arms or hands and was basically exhausted when he got there. He collapsed next to her and she grinned and stared down at him, "Tired all ready? Our trip's just begun..."
Alex laughed and sat up next to her, "Ya, well, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night..."
"No? You seemed to have been asleep for hours to me..." He sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I however, have not slept a wink, so don't mind me as I use your shoulder here as a pillow..."
He smiled, "I don't think I would be able to get you off even if I wanted to..."
She chuckled and snuggled into his shirt before falling into a dreamless sleep. He tried to stay awake but the sound of the water, her breathing, and the crackling of the fire all eventually lulled him to sleep and his head fell gently onto Phi's. The last thing he remembers thinking was, 'We're going to be really sore in the morning..."
A/N: There...that wasn't that bad of a chapter...Oh ya! We're getting into a splitting of the paths in the story (Tom's view and Alex and Phi's view...) So I was wondering which you wanted to hear more of, if you'd rather have me follow Tom's trip more or Alex and Phi's trip more... please write your opinion in your review and please, PLEASE review! If you don't I'll just do whatever I want....which wouldn't be good...trust me...
***Pages' View***
It had been at least two hours, maybe more, since the Scanrans had raided the camp and the one they had captured kept waking up, so they had to knock him unconscious again by hitting him with a shield. It was crude, but effective, and allowed them to take their anger out on something else than each other, although Devic had already punched the kid that didn't like Phi after he said that he was glad she was taken.
Devic had took control of the group and became the unassigned leader after he knocked the other page out, and had the other pages and himself scavenge around the smoking debris that used to be their supplies to try and look for food. He was just about to give up when the entire camp heard the sound of approaching hoof beats again. Everyone froze and paled, thinking that the Scanrans were returning to get their man back and the pages almost shot Alanna with an arrow as she came hurdling into the campsite.
Her horse reared up, "Put down your arms! For the sake of the gods, don't shoot us!!"
The pages dropped their weapons and blushed and watched as the camp filled with knights and their horses. Tom was the first to dismount, and Devic ran to catch him as he practically fell out of the saddle. Tom quickly picked himself up and brushed himself off, looking towards Alanna to make sure that he didn't have to go back to the Palace because of it. She looked away, and he took that as a good sign. He then turned to Devic and grabbed the kid by the shoulders, "What happened to Phi and Alex?!"
Devic looked down at his feet and his hair fell into his dirt smeared face as he muttered, "The Scanran troops raided our campsite...they took Phi and Alex with them..."
Tom released the boy and sat down heavily onto the ground, resting his head in his hands. He had hoped that he had been wrong, that his vision was just a nightmare...but now that he saw the camp in real life, he knew that it had all been real.
Kel and the rest of her friends dismounted and walked around the camp and Duke Baird made sure all the pages were all right. Kel walked over and sat down next to Tom, "There is nothing you could've done Tom..." A tear fell from Devic's eye and she looked up, surprised, "What is it?"
"Maybe...he couldn't of done something, but I could have...but I just stood there...I couldn't move, I was useless."
Tom lifted his head and looked the boy straight in the eyes, "You did the best you could and no one could've asked you to do anything more..."
That finally broke Devic down and he fell into the older boys arms and began to sob quietly. Kel nodded, "It happens to all of us in our first fight...we call it 'seeing the kraken'...it just happened a little to early for you..." She stood up and walked towards Alanna while Tom hugged Devic and patted him on the back, his older brother instincts taking over.
Alanna turned just as Kel reached her horse, looking very worn, and asked kindly "Is there something I can do for you Lady Keldarly?"
The woman nodded, "Yes...you can tell me where the hell the King's Own is...these poor children, they should not have seen battle this early, they were not ready for the horrors of war, even from a small battle such as this..."
Alanna nodded knowingly, "I agree. All we can do now though is wait until they find the camp, which shouldn't be long if HaMich is with them..." she sighed and dismounted, her armor hitting hard against the packed earth. She removed her helmet slowly, "Believe me, I want to know where are as much as you do..."
Kel grimaced and wandered over to Merric and Owen who were comforting a small group of the boys.
Nearly another hour had passed before the forest came alive again with more hoof beats. The knights drew their swords and stood near their horses but were quickly put to ease when they saw HaMich followed closely by the King's Own enter the clearing. Alanna sheathed her sword last and walked up to the leader of the Own and glared.
The riders of the Own stared in disbelief at the pages camp before slowly dismounting. Lord Rauol was the last to get down, but was somewhat reluctant to do so with the Lioness standing right next to his horse in full body armor, her hand on her sword, and her eyes glittering dangerously. He could fit a giant, but the Lady knight was another matter altogether, "Alanna, what happened here?"
"Well you would know if you had been here!" She pulled the leader of the Own away from the staring crowd and continued to scold him, "Where were you?!"
"We were looking for the Scanran army...they kept on changing their course and they proved extremely hard to follow..."
"Yes well guess where they went?" Rauol winced, guessing what was coming next, "They came into the FIRST YEAR PAGES CAMP!!! and you know what else? They CAPTURED Phiona and Alexander!"
As Alanna continued to yell at her old friend, back at camp Dom crossed over to Kel, "Kel! What are you doing here? And what happened?"
HaMich came over, "What happened to Phiona and Alex? I put them in charge here!"
Kel sighed, "You know those Scanrans you were tracking?..."
Dom nodded, "Yes...Oh gods...you mean?" Kel looked at him sadly, "Mithros..."
The training master paled, "Is anyone injured?"
Kel shook her head as Dom rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand, "I don't know...none of the pages at least..."
"What do you mean you don't know? Where are Phi and Alex? Did...did the Scanrans kill them?"
Kel shook her head a second time, "Hopefully not...they were captured though..."
Dom swore and threw his hands up in the air, "Perfect! That must be what the Lioness is yelling at Rauol for..."
Duke Baird walked by, "Hello Dom..."
Dom did a double take, "Hello uncle...Uncle?! What are you doing here?"
The duke smiled, "I'm taking care of my patient, over there..." He pointed at Tom who had by now released Devic and was sitting with the boy and Esmond.
**Alex and Phi's View***
Alex shook his head and forced his eyes to open. Suddenly, a huge bump jolted him awake and he sot up, almost falling backwards off of the back of a large horse.
He was sitting behind a big man with a very large and pointy looking axe on his back and Alex could make out Phi sitting in front of another man, awake. She looked fine, except when he looked more carefully he could see a thin scratch running horizontally on her neck. He wanted to wave to let her know he was awake, but realized that he hands were bound and he couldn't move a muscle. He glared, unnoticed, at his guard, but finally gave up struggling after realizing that even if he somehow got loose, the rider's horses were making so much thundering noise that Phi probably wouldn't even hear him.
She looked around and he was able to catch her eye out of luck. She smiled dryly, happy to see he was all right, but not to pleased with the current circumstances. She hated being the 'damsel in distress' and was currently yelling to herself in her mind about being more on guard and for being taken so easily.
For the next hour or so, Phi and Alex had to be satisfied by just being able to look at a friendly face and once and a while mouthing words to each other.
Finally, they reached a large, cold looking river and the riders stopped to make camp. They unloaded their horses and set their things on wooden pallets, including Phi and Alex., then started a fire, seemingly waiting for something.
Alex crawled his way over to Phi, which was very difficult to do with out using his arms or hands and was basically exhausted when he got there. He collapsed next to her and she grinned and stared down at him, "Tired all ready? Our trip's just begun..."
Alex laughed and sat up next to her, "Ya, well, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night..."
"No? You seemed to have been asleep for hours to me..." He sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I however, have not slept a wink, so don't mind me as I use your shoulder here as a pillow..."
He smiled, "I don't think I would be able to get you off even if I wanted to..."
She chuckled and snuggled into his shirt before falling into a dreamless sleep. He tried to stay awake but the sound of the water, her breathing, and the crackling of the fire all eventually lulled him to sleep and his head fell gently onto Phi's. The last thing he remembers thinking was, 'We're going to be really sore in the morning..."
A/N: There...that wasn't that bad of a chapter...Oh ya! We're getting into a splitting of the paths in the story (Tom's view and Alex and Phi's view...) So I was wondering which you wanted to hear more of, if you'd rather have me follow Tom's trip more or Alex and Phi's trip more... please write your opinion in your review and please, PLEASE review! If you don't I'll just do whatever I want....which wouldn't be good...trust me...
