Wow, it has been a while… sorry about this, guys. Ah well, the story must go on. No excuses on my part, but why haven't you guys been bothering me?
WARNING: I have spent the past two days altering, editing, and all out fixing chapters 1-9. SOME OF THE STORY YOU MAY REMEMBER HAS CHANGED. I STRONGLY recommend that you reread everything, whether or not you think you remember it. Of course, if this is your first read, then ignore this and enjoy.
Responses:
StickyRice: Ah, so we're a romantic, are we? Hahahaha, glad to see you liked it, though it's now been tuned up a bit.
Lily (Lena) Evans: Holly crap! That chapter too? Wowza. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Cathy7: What will happen next indeed. Haven't thought about that… heh, just kidding.
Widower: So is reading my story like eating a Hershey chocolate bar? That would be kinda cool. A story that tastes like candy… I'll invent it and become rich! You get 10 of the cut since you made up the idea.
Virtue: Ah, crap, sorry Virtue. I don't know what happened, I just sorta, didn't write. But that's all fixed now. See? I'm typing!
Okay, on with Chapter 10!
………
Chapter 10: Intrusion of the Water Bringer
Boof. Borus shook his fist and scowled at the soldier who had just lobbed a snowball at him. The soldier looked uncertain, but fell over when Percival pelted him in the face with his own snowball. The soldier laughed before getting up and joining other companions.
"I see you are having merry fun, Percy," Borus said, a hint of anger in his voice. Percival chuckled, dodging another barrage of snowballs. The easy victory from the day before had left the troops with good morale, and there were no few snowball fights taking place. They passed Roland, who stood still as a stone, staring straight ahead. Both arms were behind his back and an impassive expression dressed his face.
"Well, I can say I am having more fun than Roland," Percival whispered somewhat loudly. Roland shifted his gaze ever so slightly to glare at Percival. Borus huffed, his breath leaving a trailing cloud of vapor as he did so. "Oh, come now, Borus. Scout duty is not that bad. Besides, we can get a little air, and peace and quiet"
Borus harrumphed as they entered the stables, where their two horses were tacked up and ready to go. He unlatched his horse's stall door and led the gelding back outside. Percival followed suit. Now back outside, Percival moved up alongside Borus.
"Now don't be miserable! What has you in such a mood?" Percival asked, getting annoyed. Borus had wanted anything but to be placed on scout duty. Anything! But Salome claimed he was long overdue for it, and Borus could not argue. They led their horses back the way they came, and when Percival saw that no answer was forthcoming, he opened his mouth to say more when he stopped short. And he began to stifle a laugh.
Roland stood in the same position as before. But next to him was a snowman, with both stick arms behind its back and an angry expression of rocks dressing its face. Someone had shoved a carrot in place of its nose, and two carrots came out of either side of its head. The snowman was a perfect replica of Roland.
Some part of Percival lost control, and he began to laugh hysterically. Borus glanced at Roland, the sight amusing him. Roland now pulled his bow from behind his back. The two got the hint and continued on their way, but Percival's laugh echoed strongly through the camp even after they turned around a bend.
Finally, they exited the camp and mounted their horses. Percival wiped tears from his eyes. "Ah, not a sight you see every day, is it now?" Borus nodded, finding he had to agree. The two rode out far from the camp until it was only a tiny colorful blotch in the distance, before splitting up. One would head right, the other left, and they would circle around the camp, meet again, pass each other, and continue until they met each other again. Then they would return to camp together and the next shift would head out.
One would think it easy, but while on scout duty, the scouts had to remain attentive at all times. One had to be able to notice a slight discoloration that should not be there, an enemy sneaking in behind them, or something out of place. One's mind could not wander. And that was exactly what Borus's mind wanted to do. He wanted to think. But now, of course, he could not. He took his job as a knight seriously, and would not, could not let his duties be swayed by his thoughts. One mistake out here, he knew, could mean the death of many soldiers, an accident, or, well, anything.
He waved off Percival, turning right as Percival turned left, and began his scouting duty. He blocked thoughts from his mind, and cast his gaze across the white landscape. In the far off distance, he could just barely see trees. The opposite side held mountains. He scanned the horizon, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but saw nothing.
It was when he was very close to meeting up with Percival for the first time that he saw something scamper across the white scene. He moved out of his normal scouting path toward whatever it was he had seen. Oddly, there was nothing there, and just as he was about to turn back, when he saw it again out of the corner of his eye. This time, he reared his horse into a gallop after it.
He saw fleeting flashes of the creature ahead of him, and knew he was going in the right direction. Finally, the creature veered off to his left, and he saw what it was; a baby wild boar. He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead and sighed in frustration. He looked around him, and found himself very lucky to still be able to see his camp, an almost microscopic dot of orange in the distance.
But as he turned around to head back, something black caught his eye, very black against the white of the snow. He turned his head as fast as it would turn, and saw a person dash beyond a small hill. At first he was not sure if he had actually seen it. But then, as he moved closer, he saw footprints. Half of him wanted to follow the footprints, but the other half, going against his initial instinct, told him it would be more reasonable to seek help and have small searching party do the job instead.
He chose to follow his instinct.
……
Chris had watched Borus sulk off to scout duty with Percival, and had thought the entire thing a bit comical. She would indeed give anything to go on scout duty now, instead of being stuck in camp finishing random paper work that was long over due. She also had to write a very lengthy report on what had happened since they left Vinay del Zexay, many weeks ago. Salome had offered to do it, but Chris knew he was offering out of courtesy rather than it being his job. So there she sat, in her slightly warm tent, finishing the vicious paper work and writing a story fit for a novel.
The paper work did do one thing for her; it cleared her head, and the 'novel' she was writing would help her organize her thoughts and remember what exactly had happened the three weeks they had been out. She signed off the last of a weapons and armor shipment approval and began reading over a list of foods that would be shipped to the army's current location with her approval when she heard the distant galloping of hooves. The sound came closer and closer, and Chris dropped her pen and took up her sword in its place. Has an enemy breached camp? she found herself asking.
But no. The horse and rider had stopped outside her tent, but it was Percival who walked in, not an enemy. "Milady," he said breathlessly. "Forgive me for my intrusion, but I bring important news. As you know, Borus and I were out on a scout run. But we never passed each other, for there was no Borus to pass." Chris took this in, and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Are you positive?" she found herself asking, alarm on her face.
"It is no joke, if that is what you believe it to be. He was coming toward me a ways in the distance–– we were just about to pass for the first time–– and I turned to look to my right. When I looked back, he was gone." Percival shrugged, his breaths finally beginning to slow down. Chris opened her mouth to speak, but then more galloping hooves were heard. Percival, too, heard them, and they both moved outside. It was none other than Borus who came galloping down the tent aisle, and he was just as breathless as Percival. But a smile was on his face, as though he held some great secret.
"Lady Chris, Percival," he greeted, his horse huffing as big a breath as he. Other soldiers moved around them, mumbling to themselves. "I have good news, milady," he finally said. "I have––" he took a deep breath, "I have located the enemy encampment."
……
Night had fallen, and a bitter wind had picked up. But the weather was keenly ignored as a small group moved across the milky plains. The group consisted of five people; Percival, Chris, two soldiers who were expertly trained in reconnaissance, and Borus. Percival was sly and good in investigation, and Chris had been thoroughly trained in the area, as it was required of a captain. Borus never had much luck with reconnaissance, but he knew where they were going and had thus argued his way into the group. None of them wore armor; hard leather jerkins had taken armor's place, and long swords had been replaced by sabers recovered from the "Squire Incident," as it was now called.
Four mages had examined the bandits' clothing, and altered the shapes of normal outfits to become perfect replicas for the five to use.
They moved around the hill that Borus had first seen someone in black move behind, and then followed the hoof prints Borus's horse had left. It was not far in this direction when Borus motioned for them to stop. He moved forward to a small mound in the ground and stopped. A black figure seemed to mold from the ground and rise, his sword drawn.
"Back from scout duty," Borus said quietly to the man. The man nodded.
"N'ything to report?" he asked just as quietly. Borus shrugged.
"They have not discovered out position yet, though one did come close today, as I heard earlier. No one has entered the perimeter." The man nodded again, before moving aside. Some snow fell away, and a passage, a very large passage to be hidden so easily, appeared in the ground. Borus entered on his horse, and the others followed. The passageway was well lit and became wider as they went deeper and deeper into the ground. Then, it opened up entirely, and what met the group's eyes amazed them. Chris moved to the head of the group, masking her surprise well. They all tried to hide the amazed looks on their faces that were visible even through the disguises, for before them stood a city, miles long and wide, and filled with people all dressed in black. Men, woman, and children roamed the streets. The civilians wore no masks hiding their face, so it was easy to tell who was a soldier and who was not.
Chris moved her group aside, nodded to each of them, and then picked a direction and headed in it. Their goal was to find the enemy's main base, and they had instead stumbled upon a city. The main base was still to be found, though Chris had a feeling it was in the large structure at the back of the city, on a dirt rise. The others went in their own separate directions, but Percival chose to turn and come after her. His horse nudged up beside her, and she noticed he had tied a white band around his arm. 'It might come in handy,' he mouthed. Chris nodded as slight as she could, and the two headed into the city.
……
A group of five scouts had gathered and headed toward the entrance. The guard molded from the door.
"We just finished scouting," said the head of the group. "Open the door."
The guard shook his head. "The scouting group just came back a little while ago." He drew his sword. "You are imposters." The head of the group blanched.
"What the hell do you mean, imposters?" He pulled out a badge from a pouch on his belt and practically shoved it in the guard's face. "See? We're no imposters."
"Shit." The guard allowed them through, then grabbed a tiny metal cup from the wall of the cave entrance. A wire led out its bottom and into the wall. "This is the front guard. Do you copy, receiver?" said the guard, speaking into the cup. He then put it to his ear.
"I copy front guard. What's the situation?" echoed a voice from the other end.
"We have a code blue five, receiver. Repeat, that was a code blue five. We have intruders."
………
Oooooooh, what now? Find out in the next chapter. By the way, anyone want to see an image of Roland and the snowman? It's really bad, but somewhat funny. No I did not make the Roland in the image. I did make the snowman, though. Look at my profile for the link.
Thanks for reading!