I'm glad my story is being enjoyed so far! b Guess Who b : Glad you liked it. You're going to be serving the knights drinks fairly soon! b Dagg-Dag /b : Thank you for your support! b Warrior-princess /b : No, the inspiration is not from Timeline, though I do love that movie!
Thanks for all your appreciation!
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Katie, with some difficulty, crawled out of the cramped little cave. Her red hair was riddled with damp dirt fallen from the roof.
"Here's the sword," she said, handing Christopher the Gladius and brushing the dirt from her hair.
"Thanks," Christopher replied, examining the sword with awe. "Wow, a Roman Gladius. Probably not genuine, but still..."
Katie smiled in amusement. Christopher sure loved swords. And he'd been after a Roman one to add to his collection for a while, now.
Christopher held the short sword by the blade and flipped it into his hand. "It's so light," he said.
"Shouldn't we get a move on?" suggested Katie. "It'll be getting dark soon. We should try and find our way back."
"Good plan," said Christopher, sliding the sword into his belt. "We'll try and get this back to whoever owns it later."
So, the pair of friends returned to the dirt path. They looked around.
"Which way should we go?" asked Katie.
"Let's go the way the Roman – people – things came from," said Christopher, struggling to find the right word. "That way, we're sure to find civilization."
Katie nodded her head in agreement, rippling her red hair. Christopher drew the sword over-dramatically and pointed the way. "Let's go," he said in a heroic voice. They both laughed and started to walk down the road.
After about ten minutes of walking, they still had not found the way out.
"We must be pretty deep in a forest," said Katie. "Have you ever been here before?"
Christopher shook his head. "No," he denied. "Never. My question is not where we are, but how we got here."
"There is that, too," replied Katie. Suddenly she stopped. "Look," she said, and pointed. Christopher walked over to see where she was pointing. Sure enough, between the trees, there could be seen a building. Or, part of a building anyway.
"Thank God for that," said Christopher, immensely relieved. "That's a funny looking building, though..."
"Mmm..." agreed Katie, running her tongue along her teeth. "It looks like...stone."
"Well, let's get a closer look," said Christopher. "I can't see it being made out of stone, somehow."
They rounded a corner they were nearing, and they found the mouth of the path. Katie and Christopher ran down, and out of the mouth, and gasped. Sprawling fields lay before them, with grass as green as emerald. The sky was light grey. They were right in thinking there was a stone building there, but the kind of building was what made it even more unbelievable. It was not one building, but a walled manor. Near it there was a small village, comprised of dilapidated, wooden, one-room houses, with a firepit ablaze in the centre.
The realization hit them at the same time. It was the estate of Marius Honorius.
"What the Hell's going on?" Christopher blurted out.
"We're in the movie," breathed Katie, her eyes misting over, as though she would pass out any moment.
"Come on," said Christopher. "Let's head over and get some clothes. Because I doubt many people are going to have seen clothes like we're wearing."
"Good idea," said Katie, nodding her head.
Kelsey tied up the last string on the front of the lace-up bodice. She pulled the elastic holding her ponytail in place from her hair, and put it in her pocket. That would definitely give her away.
'Well, this is a strange turn of events,' thought Kelsey, as she took a deep breath and pushed the door of the storeroom open. She walked out into the sun of the open tavern, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light.
No one seemed to give her half a glance, so she presumed her disguise was working. Good. That was the first challenge passed. The next was to find out what point in the movie this was.
Again, a swift answer came her way. She spied a group of tough-looking men wearing chainmail, plate armour, or leather standing about. It was the knights. Kelsey could see Dagonet and Bors chatting; Gawain, Galahad, and Tristan knife-throwing; and (her heart stopped for a moment) Lancelot playing at dice.
The man playing with Lancelot pulled his winning towards him, but Lancelot abruptly stuck his dagger in the wooden table, stopping him. "Best of three," he said shrewdly.
Kelsey grinned slightly. If she wasn't in a castle, fifteen-hundred years before her birth, she would have probably laughed openly.
"You! Wench!" came a gruff man's voice. Kelsey took no notice of the voice, having never been addressed in such a manner. Suddenly a heavy hand clapped her shoulder, and spun her around. The man she looked at was about forty, with a thick, short beard and the same sort of hair on the top of his head.
"Answer me when I talk to you, wench!" he barked in a thick cockney accent. "Sir Bors and Dagonet want drinks! Go on, 'oppit!
"'ere, I don't think I've met you before. New employee, are yeh? Woss your name?"
"Uhh, my name is...Katarina," she answered.
"Ka'arina?" he said, slightly suspiciously. "Well, Kat, get to work!"
With that, he shoved her off towards the sheltered bar.
Krista took several long, deep breaths. She had to stay calm. But - Woads! Would they kill her?
Well, it wasn't worth taking the chance. She had to disguise herself as one of them. It was either that or try and escape the forest, and risk running into more of them. It was a bit of a Hobson's choice, really.
The fifteen year old looked around frantically for something she could change into...aha! She spotted some ragged clothing hanging off a tree branch. It would have to do. Carefully, moving slowly, Krista tiptoed towards the clothes. The problem was, there was someone leaning up against a tree nearby, looking in the direction of the village. If he saw her, she was toast.
So she moved as quietly and stealthily as she could be. She crept past the guard (who grasped an unpleasant-looking spear, Krista noticed), like a convict trying to slip past a policeman.
A twig snapped under her foot. Krista cursed herself, but it was lucky the guard had coughed at the exact same time. Wiping sweat from her brow, Krista continued towards the clothes.
Finally, she reached them. Good, they were a woman's outfit. There was a strip of brown cloth – presumably for a top – and a ragged pair of brown pants which stretched to about her knees. There was a rope hanging on the branch also, apparently to use as a belt, judging by the small holes every few inches on the waist of the pants.
So, taking the clothes, Krista hid in a thick patch of bushes and quickly changed into the Woad outfit. It fit her quite well, but Krista would have preferred something less itchy and filthy. She messed her hair up and smeared dirt and twigs in it, to add to the illusion. Then she rolled around on the ground a little (which was actually quite fun), nearly finishing the disguise. All she needed was her blue paint. She'd get that when she reached the village, she decided.
So, digging a hole, she hid her shirt and pants. Then she filled the hole in and stood up. It was a pity. She liked that shirt...
Then Krista bravely walked towards the guard. When she was about a yard away, he heard her and turned around.
"Who are you?" he demanded, pointing his spear.
"I am a Woad," lied Krista, putting her hands up. She pulled at the material on the trousers a little to indicate such. Thankfully, the guard lowered his spear.
"Very well," he replied, in his deep voice.
"What village is this?" inquired Krista.
"This is Novanti," answered the sentry. "Home of Great Merlin."
"I must speak with Merlin," said Krista. "Is that possible?"
"I will escort you to the village," said the guard, motioning her over to him. She hastened to obey. He didn't look like one to cross.
They were about to move, when he spoke again. "What is your name?" he inquired.
"My name is...Nomokis," answered Krista, thinking of a spiritual name. "It means 'moonlight'."
"Very well, Nomokis," said the guard. "Follow me."
Court and Rayah stood, hidden, behind their buildings. They were poised for attack. Courtney wielded a very heavy branch, and Sharayah a stone. The Saxon footsteps got closer, closer...
Suddenly their two visitors emerged. Immediately, the girls sprung into action. Court swung her branch round sideways, smashing the Saxon on the left square in the face. He fell unconscious on the ground. The other turned to face Courtney, drew his sword, but soon followed his partner, as Sharayah clonked him hard on the head with the stone.
Courtney let out a breath of relief.
"You don't think they're dead, do you?" said Sharayah, kneeling down.
"I don't think so," said Courtney, doing so also. They each touched one of the Saxons' throats. "This one's still alive. He's got a pretty bloody nose, though."
"He's alright, too," confirmed Rayah. "He's got a nasty bump on his head, but that's about all."
"What are we going to do?" said Courtney urgently.
"Well, our best chance of survival is probably to disguise ourselves as Saxons," said Rayah.
Courtney gulped. "I really don't like the idea of sharing ranks with those men. Nor do I like the idea of doing the kind of things THEY like to do."
"We won't," said Rayah. "We'll just pretend. C'mon, let's get these uniforms off them.
So they set to work, preparing their 'costumes'. Sharayah took the scale mail shirt off the one next to her, and slipped it on over her t-shirt. Then, hesitantly, she pulled the soldier's trousers off him.
"Thank God they wear underwear," said Sharayah, breathing out heavily.
"I think we'll let them keep that," suggested Courtney, having difficulty with her suit (she had accidentally put the leather brigandine on backwards). Sharayah pulled 'her' trousers on, then walked over to help Court.
"Thanks," said Courtney after the shirt was on the right way. She also removed her captive's pants and pulled them on.
Sharayah bent over and picked up the belts with the swords attached to them up. She passed one to Courtney, and secured the other around her waist. Finally, they pulled their leather boots on.
"Bit heavy, isn't it?" noted Courtney.
Sharayah had picked up one of the fallen Saxons' helmets, held her hair up, and put the helm over her head.
"Oh no, there's only one helmet," she said, as the realization hit her.
"Saxon women fought too," Courtney reminded her.
"It just seemed safer to pose as a man," reasoned Sharayah. "That way, other soldiers would be less inclined to...well, you know."
"Yes, I know what you mean," said Courtney. She shuddered. Best not to even think about that. "But I guess I'll just have to bear with it."
"Right, let's put these two inside," said Sharayah, grabbing one of the Saxons by the arms. Courtney took the other by the legs, and the two of them pulled their victims into one of the huts. They left quickly and shut the door behind them.
"Now, that's done," said Rayah, practicing disguising her voice like a man's. "I suppose we'll just wait until Cerdic reaches us."
"Best to avoid it as long as possible, huh?" said Courtney.
"Exactly."
Katie and Christopher pressed themselves flat against a stone building.
"Let's break into this one and get some clothes," he whispered.
He reached over and pushed the window open, and poked his head inside. There was nobody home. It was a fairly depressing little cottage. One room, a hay floor, straw bed, and some clothes tossed in a pile on a table. There was also a table for two people to eat at.
"No one's home," said Christopher. "I think there's a guy's outfit and a woman's outfit in there. Do you want to get dressed first?"
"Sure," whispered Katie. She inched over and climbed in the window.
"I'll keep a lookout," said Christopher, covering up the window with his back. "If anyone comes, I'll make a noise like an owl hooting."
"Gotcha," said Katie. Five minutes later, Christopher felt a sharp prod in the back which told him Katie was finished. He quickly moved out of the way so she could come out. She emerged from the building, dressed in a green robe with a brown leather belt. There were sandals on her feet.
"It suits you," said Christopher charmingly. "You've got your ordinary clothes on underneath, I presume?"
"Yes," said Katie. "I had to cut off the lower part of my pants, though."
"What did you do with them?" asked Christopher.
"They're tucked inside the robe," explained Katie.
"Right, I'll get dressed now, and you keep a lookout, eh?"
Christopher climbed in the window and Katie blocked it with her back. Another five minutes later, Christopher prodded Katie with his index finger and she moved out of the way. Christopher clambered out, wearing a loose beige shirt, and long brown pants. He wore leather shoes.
"It's a little tight across the chest," Christopher joked, pulling at the very loose material. He began to practice a Scottish accent.
"I hope no one recognizes their clothes," said Katie, practicing an English accent.
"Your accent's perfect," complimented Christopher.
"Thanks," replied Katie. "What's yours supposed to be?"
Christopher laughed. That couldn't be good. "Perhaps I should try harder," he said. "How's that?"
"Much better."
And everybody's settled in! Well, not really, but you get the idea. Thanks once again to my reviewers, and I'll get to work on the next chapter soon!