A/N – I actually tuned out of LOK long enough to realize there are not enough fics on my fav twins in the whole wide world…so I thought I'd help. Reviews are always appreciated x
Chapter 1 – The Battle
"Jemima wait!" a voice rang out, through the forest. "Jemima!"
"What?!" Jemima laughed and turned to her brother. She squinted through the trees and saw she had long left her brother behind. He struggled to dodge through the trees as gracefully as she had and it made her laugh to see him try. Eventually he slipped and went down, vanishing into the greenery. Jemima burst into peals of laughter when she saw him fall, she clutched her stomach, trying to ease the pain of her hysterics. She wiped back a happy tear when she realized Ralph hadn't risen. She could just make out the top of his head, amongst the damp, green leaves. He lay, motionless on the forest floor.
"Ralph?" Jemima called to him. Still nothing, "Ralph?!" she cried, urgently. She ran towards her fallen twin, "Ralph! Ralph!" she tried to stay calm, she tried to control her fears. She collapsed next to her brother, shaking his shoulders, turning him over so the mesh of damp grass and flowers no longer suffocated his dirty, smeared face.
"Ralph," Jemima cried, still shaking her brother, in a vain attempt to wake him. Tears started streaming down her face, "Ralph, please!" she begged.
A smile spread across her twin's lips and he snapped open his eyes, "Boo!" he shouted. Jemima yelped in fright and jumped backwards, dropping her brother against the soft grass.
"Ralph!" she shouted, indignant, giving her laughing brother a harsh kick, "You big meanie!" she shouted, kicking him again.
"Ow!" Ralph protested, pushing himself up on his elbows and blowing some of his long, dark fringe out of his face. "Serves you right for running off," he told her, in his authoritative, 'it-may-only-be-a-couple-of-minutes-older-but-I'm-still-older-than-you' tone.
Jemima folded her arms and sulked against the tree, poking her tongue out at her twin. Ralph smirked and moved towards her, "I'm sorry, Jemima," he mocked. He slid two fingers into the mud around him, "I'm sorry," he repeated, at the same time he ran his muddy fingers down her cheek, leaving a trail of dirt behind.
"Ralph!" she screeched, snatching at her brother. He laughed and ducked, pushing himself up and running away from his sister. She immediately gave chase and they both ran through the forest, laughing as the sister tried to catch the brother.
Jemima ducked a branch, they were nearing the edge of the forest, she recognised it. She could see her brother, quite a distance ahead, he had already left the forest. Jemima ducked the last low, thick branches and expected to see her brother running across the wide, open field that lay there.
Ralph however had stopped abruptly, his eyes fixed in a dawning horror at the sight before him. Jemima emerged a few feet away from him, she too froze when she saw it.
A battle.
Hundreds of men, all engaged in a bloody fight to the death. Bodies littered the ground everywhere and the lush, green grass was being dyed with pools of blood.
They were close. Ralph ran to Jemima's side and pulled her against him as they appreciated just how close they were to the fray, the stench of blood was heavy on the air. "Ralph," Jemima whimpered, burying her face into his shoulder. The child did his best to comfort his sister, even though he was terrified himself.
"Jemima!" Ralph pulled her to the side as a body fell in between them, a small axe embedded in his skull. The twins looked at the body then up at the warrior who approached to reclaim his axe. The man's eyes rested on the children in a mixture of confusion and concern before he too was killed. The price he paid for not paying attention.
Jemima screamed as the body hit the ground before them, his fountain of blood spraying onto them both, "Jemima!" Ralph screamed as his sister took off in total panic.
Jemima weaved in and out of the sparring bodies. She had to get away from them all. She tripped over an injured soldier and came crashing to the ground.
She looked back, the soldier had been stabbed in the chest, but he was not dead. He clutched onto her leg, pulling her back towards him, while his injured throat coughed out words she couldn't distinguish. Flecks of blood sprayed from his mouth onto her dirty cheeks as she kicked and screamed, trying to free herself from the injured man's harsh grip.
"Let her go!" Ralph roared, running to her side, trying to free his sister. Still the man wouldn't relent his grip. Coughing and crying out to them, but they didn't hear. Ralph absent mindedly picked up the blade that had fallen beside them. He examined it for just a second before he took aim and thrust it deep into the man's chest, piercing his heart, allowing him to release his grip at last.
The twins watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as the man coughed up more blood, his eyes, wide and urgent flickered and the pain behind them vanished. He died looking right up at the female twin, his hand still holding onto her ankle.
"Ralph," Jemima murmured gratefully, nuzzling her brother, gently. Ralph pulled the small sword from the body and looked, curiously at the red substance that dripped from it.
"Ralph, let's go," Jemima pleaded, pulling her brother up with her. He dropped the sword and nodded, returning his attentions back to his sister.
The fighting around them had lessened and more bodies carpeted the grass. "Victory!" a shout went up amongst the surviving soldiers, "Victory for Lord Burroughs!"
Ralph and Jemima ignored the shouts, trying to slip unnoticed through the mass of cheering soldiers. Someone did notice them. Someone had watched them kill the already dying man and someone had seen the glint of satisfaction and amusement in their eyes when they had done so.
The regal man sitting on his horse pointed out the twins as they snaked through the soldiers. Some of the men looked down and saw the children, obeying their master they picked up them up and carried them, over to their lord.
"No put us down!" Ralph cried, hitting and kicking the man who was carrying him. Not far away he could hear his sister doing the same. Eventually they were both dropped before the man on the horse. Both twins gazed up at him, he was gazing back, the victory blazing in his eyes and a twisted smile across his lips.
TBC