PART VIII
Secrets in the Water
Jestful laughter enlightened the sky, and echoed in the forest, and the pounding of horse hooves thumping the ground and rustling the leaves.
Hitomi and Kotori rode wildly, nudging their unicorns harder and faster incase they were being followed. Hitomi rode behind Kotori, a little gap spaced in between them as Kotori rode like a mad man and acted like she was a cowboy. Thinking they've gone far enough Hitomi rode upside Kotori and grabbed the reins and pulled the unicorns to a stop.
They locked eyes with one another and before either one knew it, they were rolling around in the grass, laughing out loud releasing the bubbling sensation they were unable to contain any longer.
"Did you see there faces" said Kotori jest fully.
"Yeah, they were furious" said Hitomi chuckling.
Kotori sat up then intimidated the looks on the faces, and pretending to furious with her, which only made them, laugh all the more harder.
"We are so dead, when we get back" replied Kotori.
"No kidding" said Hitomi calming down, and standing up from the ground.
The two laid there are the forest ground, staring up at the blue sky with smile on their faces as they thought about the previous event that had just taken place.
"We'll be lucky if were not banned from doing anything, when we get back" said Hitomi.
"Yeah" said Kotori.
A silence passed and the two continued to lie there when Hitomi spoke
"We just acted worse than cubs"
"Is that a confession?" asked Kotori with mocking shock.
Hitomi turned and frowned at Kotori, who just smiled in return.
"We should head back soon" said Hitomi.
"What the rush they'll be okay" replied Kotori with amusement.
"Yeah, but they don't know where we are, and they'll start to worry" said Hitomi standing up again and walking over to her unicorn.
"No they won't" said Kotori smiling like an idiot.
"Why?" asked Hitomi suddenly suspicious at Kotori grinning like an idiot.
"Let's just say, I left them a note" replied Kotori, and untied her unicorn.
"And what did you say" said Hitomi suspicious.
"Not to worry," said Kotori innocently.
Hitomi chuckled and looked at Kotori typically as she shook her head sideways.
"Hey, you wanna go for a swim" said Kotori changing the subject and pointing to a large lake.
"Sure, why not it gives the others a chance to cool off," said Hitomi walking over towards the lake with Kotori.
"You hope" replied Kotori with amusement which earned a smile from Hitomi.
Tying their unicorns up nearby, they stripped down most of their clothing until they wore only a tunic and a pair of shorts.
Eager to get in the lake, Kotori ran towards it then jumped when she reached the edge and curling into a ball, she cannon balled into the lake and disappeared underneath the surface of the water. Not a moment later did she hit the surface again, gasping and spluttering.
"Cold" said Kotori, her teeth clattering, and she inwardly shivered.
"Strange" said Hitomi from the bank of the lake.
"What is?" asked Kotori.
"You would think on a nice sunny day as this that the lake would be luke warm, oh well" replied Hitomi and too dived into lake.
In no time at all, the two girls began splashing each other, creating a water fight, and they grabbed one another trying to dunk them underwater, but without much success. Pausing momentarily they noticed slight foam in the water but shrugging their shoulders they paid no attention and carried on playing.
Clowning around, enjoying themselves they were unaware of how time had passed, and the sun began to sink, the two girls climbed out grumbling.
Shivering Kotori wanted nothing more but to be back in the lake which had started to warm up, whilst the wind had turned bitter cold. Drying themselves off, and redressing they untied the unicorns and mounting them, Hitomi turned to Kotori.
"You ready"
"For my death wish, yes" replied Kotori smiling.
"Your hopeless" chuckled Hitomi.
"Hey!" shouted Kotori and chased after Hitomi who was laughing and already had a head start.
"Cheater!" screamed Kotori and she raced against Hitomi back to Gummadoon.
Riding away, the two were completely obvious to the colour change of the water and the foam that had now formed along the edges, and the colour of there skin slowly changing.
Racing against each other, the two thought that in the time that they had been away it was plenty of time for the knights and the Councillors to cool down, but what they didn't realise was that when they got back they would be waiting for them, with quite the lecture in mind.
Dusk approaching, the clouds turning a light purple, and the sky going into a mixture of orange, red and yellow, the two reached the edge of the forest in half the time it took them to reach the lake.
Watching from their hiding places in bushes they winced when they saw two knights on guard by the gate, with another knight whom they recognized as Sir Ramsei, and they both knew why he must be standing there. Looking at each other for a moment, Hitomi said
"Better now, than later"
"Great, out of all the knights they could've picked, they picked Hitler" said Kotori grouchily.
"And for your information Kotori, his name is Sir Ramsei" said Hitomi.
"Whatever, let's get it over with" replied Kotori not at all happy and the two rode out into the open, immediately gaining the attention of the knights.
Drawing closer to the gates, they could see the anger in knights eyes, but still they remained calm until they confronted the three knights and dismounted their unicorn.
"Milady" he said sternly "My captain wishes to speak with the two of you"
They nodded and followed after him, knowing that now wasn't the time for asking questions, as they were in enough trouble already.
Kotori had been very tempted to call him Hitler again when Hitomi jabbed her in the ribs, earning a yelp from her, as she smiled triumphantly yet somewhat innocent when Sir Ramsei turned to look at the two.
"Please shows us the way" said Hitomi innocently and struggling to hold in the bubbling sensation which threatened to erupt.
The knight eyed the two girls suspiciously, particularly Hitomi who was beaming innocently at him, then he turned and carried on walking, Hitomi silently chuckling behind with Kotori shooting her a glare.
"You'll regret that" whispered Kotori.
Hitomi smiled and resumed on walking and saw they were being lead to the Councillors Tower and she turned to Kotori and gave her a nervous smile, clearly showing that she was worried.
Walking into the Councillors Tower Hitomi turned her head slightly in the other direction, avoiding the glares and disapproving glances she received from the knights and the Councillors. Standing in front of the Council Hitomi looked up to meet the Councillors gaze still avoiding one in particular knights gaze, and she smiled nervously at the Councillors.
Each of the Councillors looked disapprovingly at Hitomi and Kotori before they began to lecture them, the girls pretending to listen, until at one point they mentioned.
"Suppose you'd crashed, at the speed you two were going at" they said.
"What, you call that fast, that was hardly anything!" replied Kotori and immediately quietened when she met their gaze.
After an hour of lecture, the girls left the Councillors Tower the knights walking behind them. Hitomi had her head bowed low and resting on her chest, thinking about what the Councillors had said, whilst Kotori seemed to have ignored their warning and was continuing her continuous clowning around, and she pulled out a pair of sunglasses despite that it was evening, and began marching down the pathway like an idiot.
A slight smile tugged at her lips, and she left the group and headed towards the room, just wanting to think about what the Councillors had said and to sleep, when she felt someone hand on her shoulder, preventing her from going any further. She didn't need to turn round to know who'd stopped her and softly she whispered, "Walk with me".
She felt him remove his hand from her shoulder and she turned and linked arms with him, and they walked along the corridor towards her room.
Opening the door to her room Hitomi turned and embracing him, she whispered Goodnight then watched as he left then disappeared in her room. Throwing herself on her bed, without changing, Hitomi stared up at the ceiling of her room, and wondered what to think, then her mind drifted and remembered a part of the conversation they had with the Councillors.
Flashback
Head bowed she listened to the wise words of the Council, and knew better herself not to judge them.
"What you have done was dangerous, and put Gummadoon in danger, through your own stupidity" the council said.
"Know your limits, girls" said Councillor Berryboum.
End of flashback
Hitomi knew they were right they had been careless, and through the actions they had put Gummadoon in danger. She blamed herself wishing that she had stopped Kotori when she did and forget about the challenge and instead go along with her instincts.
Rolling over on her side, her eyelids began to droop and she was soon lost to power of sleep.
End of Part VIII
Part IX coming soon