Deanna looked on as Will assisted the other knights in the construction of… something. She wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be, honestly. There had been mention of a rabbit, but at the moment, it didn't look like much more than a small wooden house.

What amazed her about the construction were the sounds involved. They only had hand axes and the like, but when the knights were chopping trees down for their project, the sound didn't always match the action. She and Will nearly collapsed from laughing when he was cutting the branches off one tree and a noise like a cat being stepped on erupted from the limb! It had been sometime, if ever, since she'd laughed so much!

Troi jumped hearing Arthur's loud voice. "Okay, men! I believe we are ready to take the French castle! Lancelot, you, Bedevere, Galahad, William push our 'gift' to the front entrance!"

Several of them murmured disdainfully as they went about their job.

Deanna looked at the finished… thing… the men were pushing toward the fortress. It did look somewhat like a rabbit now, but she still wasn't real sure what was going on.

Once the giant wooden rabbit was in place, Will, along with the other knights, snuck quickly back to Arthur and the others.

All of the men were intently watching the structure sitting outside the castle walls.

Deanna stepped beside Will to watch with them. After a little while, the huge doors of the stronghold opened and one of the Frenchmen peeked out.

The door shut, then opened again. This time, there were three heads that poked out of the entrance. They seemed to discuss amongst themselves for sometime before going to the rabbit structure, pushing it inside the castle.

Arthur beamed at Sir Bedevere. "What happens now?"

Bedevere lifted the squeaky visor of his helmet to speak. "Well, now, Lancelot, Riker, Galahad, and I wait until nightfall; then leap out of the rabbit, taking the French by
surprise! Not only by surprise, but totally unarmed!"

Will's head jerked toward him. "Excuse me, Sir Bedevere. Who leaps out?"

The knight's visor fell back down over his face and he lifted it again. "Uh… you, Lancelot, Galahad, and I…."

Arthur put his hand to his forehead, as if he had a headache. "Oh…"

Bedevere cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed. "Um, if we built this large wooden badger--"

Before he could finish, another loud twang was heard.

Will's eyes were wide when he looked at Deanna, then toward the castle.

Everyone saw the wooden rabbit hurling toward them.

"Run away! Run away!" Someone started chanting again, with the others quickly following suit. Everyone turned and ran toward the forest behind them.

The structure crashed onto one of the unnamed knights, splintering into pieces.

Once the excitement of the attack subsided, Arthur found Will. "I believe Sir Not Appearing in this Film will no longer need his sword. I believe you should take the weapon, Sir William, so you will be armed."

Will narrowed his eyes at the king. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said as he took the sword from the mass of splintered and broken boards.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were on their merry way to Camelot, skipping along as the squires behind were banging coconut halves together. The group passed through an area of the forest thick with undergrowth, slowing their progress the castle.

During all this, Deanna managed to get pushed near the end of the caravan of squires. She didn't mind it much, in fact, she still found it quite amusing with all the men acting as they were, Will especially. She could sense he was completely relaxed, and found the whole thing funny too, which doubled her enjoyment.

Some rustling in the bushes caught Troi's attention. She paused to see what was making the sound, when a group of three men dressed in bright red robes jumped from the bushes near her.

One wearing a wide-brimmed hat yelled. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

The sudden outburst scattered the knights temporarily and they scampered around here and there, eventually calming down.

The three men in red laughed at the chaos they'd caused and the leader continued when he saw King Arthur and the others settling down. "Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency... Amongst our weaponry...are such diverse elements as fear, surprise.…" He paused for a moment. "Damn! I'll come in again." The other two followed him back into the bushes.

Everyone just stood around, not real sure what to think or what to do about the robed men, when the three jumped out again. The leader stepped forward again, repeating what he'd said earlier. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn!" He turned to one of his henchmen. "Biggles, I can't say it - you'll have to say the bit about 'Our chief weapons are.'"

The one addressed as Biggles answered, looking completely terrified. "I couldn't do that!"

The lead cardinal growled as he pushed the other two back into the bushes.

Before they hid again, Arthur called out. "Sir! May I ask what you are doing here?"

All three men stopped and the one leading faced the king. "I am Cardinal Ximinez of the Spanish Inquisition! WE are here to charge the lot of you knights on counts of heresy!" He turned toward the other man clad in red. "Cardinal Fang, read the charges!"

Fang was cowering behind Ximinez and straightened himself before producing a scroll from his sleeve. "You are hereby charged that you did on diverse dates commit heresy against the Holy Church. 'My old man said follow the--'"

"Shush!" Ximinez stopped him with a slashing gesture of his hand, then smiled evilly at the knights. "Now, how do you plead?"

Arthur answered, "We are innocent!"

The Cardinals began laughing and two words appeared in yellow lettering above their heads.

'DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER'

Deanna couldn't help but laugh; it was all so ridiculous. Unfortunately, her mirth caught the attention of Ximinez.

"You!" He walked over and grabbed Deanna's arm. "How do you plead?"

Troi was shocked by the cardinal's sudden change in demeanor. "I don't answer to you!" she said.

"Ha! We'll soon change your mind about that!" He turned to the other cardinals. "Take her to the castle!" Looking back to her, he said, "She will confess."

Biggles and Fang clumsily took hold of Deanna's arms and took off into the forest. She could hear Will calling for her as he ran behind them.

Will tried to follow the crazy men who had taken Deanna, but soon lost them. He turned to join back with Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Maybe, just maybe, he could get some help from them.

As he approached the others, Arthur addressed him. "Sir William, I believe it would be a good idea for us to split up in order to find the Holy Grail. Sir Galahad will travel with you."

Riker nodded to the king. "That's fine, but what about Deanna?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Who?"

Will blew out a frustrated breath. "Deanna! The woman that was just kidnapped!"

"Oh yes," Arthur paused for a moment, looking confused. "What about her?"

"Are we just going to sit around and do nothing about those men that took her?" Riker rolled his eyes before Arthur could answer. "Never mind, sir. Forget I asked." He then faced Galahad, "Are you ready?"

Galahad looked nervously at the commander. "Uh… Yes! I am ready, Sir William! Lead the way!"

"Good. We'll go this way." Riker smiled as he lead Galahad through the brush in the direction the Spaniards took Deanna.

As the two strode away from the throng of knights, he heard King Arthur call to them, "Good Luck on your quest!"

TBC...