Hey, it's the obligatory a/n. Obligatory. That is such an awful word. Awkward is also an awkward word. Like, awkw... anyway, I wanted to know if you thought I should update chapters seperately or a Serena and an Arna together. Because I wrote the Serena awhile ago, and just finished the Arna at 11 last night. So much for going to be at 9... But, it's all for you, my one fan: PEARLWALRUS!
Do you want your name in lights? Just reveiw, and it can happen, I'll even respond! In long, drawn out, run-on sentances that are probably beyond human comprehension, but I'll respond anyway.
Disclaimer: I've always just wanted to do a disclaimer. Technically, I don't need one, since it's all mine, except for a few references to some real Fairy tales.
And now, without further ado, a chapter without a title because that's pretty much the bounds of my creativity. Have fun reading!
Chapter 2
Lord Andrew and Ladies Kristin and Serena of Springwood were coming back from visiting the country of Opyll, just to the east of Ilian. It had been a long journey, and Serena was looking forward to getting home.
She hated long carriage rides, and missed her own horse terribly. She was reading, to pass the time, and trying not to look at the passing countryside; it was making her feel a bit nauseous. The worst part of traveling was the getting there. The there was always wonderful. But the actual travel was always awful. Serena propped herself against the side of the carriage and practically stuck her nose in the book.
And then, without warning, they struck. Masked men in camouflaging black and green leapt out of the bushes surrounding the carriage, holding swords and knifes. They motioned for the driver to step out of the carriage, then two of the men climbed in themselves, barely even looking at the people inside. One flicked the reins and the carriage rumbled on, turning south. The three nobles inside barely had time to react.
"Um… excuse me sir, but where are we going?" Serena couldn't help asking. The shock of apparently being kidnapped hadn't quite sunk in, and at first it seemed funny to her, that she was living the same sort of adventure that always happened in books.
The men in the front ignored her. The other members of their band appeared again, this time on horses. Andrew closed the curtains on the carriage doors quickly and turned to his family, wide eyed.
Any amusement Serena had gotten out of bothering the men in front slipped away at the look in her father's eyes. He was usually jovial and calm, always logical and looking for a solution to a problem instead of panicking. He was an inventor, his mind just worked that way. But he looked sincerely scared and that severely rattled his daughter. He looked her straight in the eye.
"We are in grave danger. You are one of the few people who can save us all. You have to escape. When we stop, I want you to jump out of the carriage. Don't worry about us, we'll be okay. But it's imperative that you survive. Do whatever it takes and don't trust anyone you don't know. For you must return to the Manor." He whispered urgently.
"But father –" Serena hissed.
"We can not talk anymore or they will be suspicious. When I give the signal you must go." He turned away from her, refusing to meet her confused gaze.
They passed the next few hours in relative silence. It began to get dark and, one by one, they each fell asleep. Serena awoke before her parents to find the moon high in the sky. He parents, sitting across from her in the carriage, were leaning against each other, snoring.
She stared at them for a moment. There was something they weren't telling her, and she felt that it might be a while before she knew. Who were these men and where were they taking them? And why them? Also, what was so important about her? Maybe once I'm gone, they'll let my parents go. Serena reasoned to herself.
She thought back on everything her father had told her. When you have a problem you have to have enough information to know what it was, and somewhere in there was the solution. He father had always said that. Well, her problem was that her family had apparently been kidnapped and that she had to escape. Without them.
She frowned at this. Her father had never steered her wrong, but… no, she had to do it. She had never seen that look on his face, ever. It had been past serious. It had been life and death. Did that mean that her parent's lives were in her hands? Was that what he meant by 'us all'? These questions were getting her nowhere.
She shivered. The night was cold, and although she was wearing a traveling shawl, she didn't have a blanket. She looked back up at the moon, as if it might, for some reason, hold the answer.
Help. She thought at it. Then, as if the moon had done something, the carriage jolted to a stop. Her parents awoke abruptly, and her father quickly rubbed the bleariness from his face. He looked at her piercingly, reminding her of their earlier conversation.
Suddenly he moved forward and hugged her, followed closely by an equally loving mother. For a moment she couldn't breath, feeling a bit crushed between them. Then the carriage door was practically ripped open and a face was jutted into the doorway.
"Come-" He began, but was cut off by a kick from my father. The man fell to the ground, dazed. And luckily for them, the other members of the group were nowhere in sight.
"Go!" Her father practically pushed her from the carriage as the other man, hearing the thump, came around from the front.
Serena jumped down and ran into the bushes, screaming when hands whipped out of the blackness surrounding her, trying to grab hold. She ducked under the first set and plowed right past the second. But the third caught her arm. She twisted around and bit it, hearing a yelp of pain, and ran on, tripping over roots and running into branches.
But, from the sounds around her, her pursuers were having the same problems. And they were much larger than she was. They were also making enough noise that it must have been hard for them to figure out which way Serena was going.
Then, suddenly, she found herself knee deep in a stream, about to be swept over by the current. She turned back toward the shore and jumped toward a boulder. She climbed onto it and jumped from it to another. Stepping stones, she though.
But just as she thought she would make it, she landed on a patch of moss. She flailed about, her hands in the air, dropping her shawl, which flew into the stream and became caught on an overhanging branch a few hundred feet downstream.
Serena regained her balance and jumped to the shore before she could lose anything else. She paused for a moment, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to try and rescue her shawl, then heard a splash from the other shore.
Realizing that the masked men were probably catching up, she ran again, only slightly put off by her squelching shoes. Then she stopped, realizing that she didn't hear anyone behind her. Turning around, she peered through the trees.
She saw a man pointing down stream, in the direction of her shawl… her shawl! They must think that she had fallen in and drowned. Serena crossed her fingers. Yes, they were leaving! The men turned around and trudged back the other way.
Serena turned and started to walk away from the stream… then realized that she had no idea where she was. She knew that she was going home, but she wasn't at all sure of what direction that would be in. Her best bet was to simply follow the stream. It would probably eventually lead to a river or lake, which would probably have towns somewhere along them, or at least roads.
She turned back to the river, keeping a cover of trees between it and her the entire time, just in case, as the bandits might have stayed. Serena tried to ignore her freezing legs and feet, almost succeeding when the breeze blew past her, making her shiver as she wished that she had saved her shawl anyway. She stumbled on, cold and hungry as she hadn't eaten since early that afternoon.
It was nearing dawn when she saw the road. At first she wasn't sure if it was only a clearing, but as the sun came up she rejoiced at the glimmer of paving stones. That meant she was near a real city. A real city meant people and help and … people she didn't know. All night her father's words had echoed through her head. 'Don't trust people you don't know'. Hardly poetic, but it had struck her thoroughly.
She debated with herself for a moment. She finally turned toward the road, deciding that she could simply follow it to a landmark she knew and find her way home from there. It was only a day more by carriage, which was perhaps three days by foot. Or was it? And regardless, there was the problem of food. There would be vendors along the way, and Serena had a few coins left from the pocket money her parents had given her to spend in the markets of Lanat, the capitol of Opyll. There might be road-way vendors. Who she couldn't trust.
Serena decided to face that problem when it arose and started walking parallel to the road, ignoring her feet which had turned from numb to blistered very quickly, and her stomach, which felt as though it were imploding. And soon, she was attempting to ignore her mouth, too, which was becoming paper-dry.
After what seemed like hours to her, she heard the sounds of water. Serena stumbled toward it, an almost unbearable thirst crawling up her throat. When she finally burst through the bushes she was awarded with a neat little streamlet, deep enough to have clear water yet small enough that there was no fear of being pushed over by the current.
She fell to her knees next to the water and, ignoring decorum, thrust her head in.
When she was no longer thirsty, she swung around and let her feet cool in the water, looking around for any form of food. And, amazingly, she found a grove of berries right next to her head. She plucked one off the bush and dropped it into her mouth. It was sweet and tangy, and soon she was hovering over the plant, grabbing as many as she could, as if they would all disappear in a moment if she didn't get them now.
She only stopped when she couldn't see anymore on the bush. Although she was far from full, as no number of berries can ever make anyone really full, she lay back on the grass and stared up at the sky. And slowly, slowly, she drifted off to sleep.
Serena awoke with a gasp. She had dreamed of dark shadows, looking for her everywhere. All the fear from the night before came rushing back. She looked up at the sky. It was late afternoon. It would be dark soon. She had to go… somewhere… back to the road. She had to get away.
A hysteria had enveloped her. Her father's speech haunted her once again, and she fought back tears at the thought of her parents. She shot up and rushed back the way she had come, back toward the road. The blood whooshed back through her body, but she ignored the dizziness and broke into a run. It was five minutes later, with the road less than 50 feet in front of her, when the berries hit. She dropped to the ground, a hand on her stomach. It felt as though it were about to explode. But she had to get to the road.
Serena crawled forward slowly, scratching her arms on twigs and roots, barely noticing the pain in her arms as she tried to ignore the pain in her stomach. And when she finally reached the road and stopped, exhaustion overwhelmed her and she slipped into blessed unconsciousness.