Chapter Three: Practice, Practice, Practice
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the forest where a beautiful waterfall was seen, a dark, ruined castle was there that was next to a large lake. The moon was full as water reflected from the moon's light. At the edge of the lake, an elegant white swan with emerald green eyes and a chestnut brown stripe on its head was looking at the man with jet black hair, onyx black eyes, and very fair skin miserably. Next to the man was a woman with rick black hair, greyish black eyes, and fair skin and she was throwing pieces of breadcrumbs at the swan, hoping to cheer it up.
However, the swan refused to eat as it looked away. There, the man finally spoke as he said calmly, "Now don't let my little spell make you sad, Emily. It doesn't even last the whole day. As soon as the moon comes up."
With that, the swan looked up at the full moon as she noticed that the moon glowed around her body. There, she began to glow herself as she closed her eyes. There, a bunch of water covered the swan as it glowed in all shades of pink, yellow, and teal. When the water died down, instead of the swan, it was Emily, who stood by the lake as she went towards the edge of the lake. What Emily and the two people didn't know was that nearby, a brown tortoise and a green frog was witnessing the transformation this whole time. They were amazed by it, yet they felt sorry for Emily.
Once Emily got off the lake, the man then said as he made some hand gesture that was supposed to be like a bird's wings, "And that's how it works, every night. You have to be on the lake, of course, and when the moonlight touches your wings."
After that comment, Emily turned her head with a small frown. The man sighed and he chuckled, "Now look Emily, this sort of thing doesn't give me any pleasure. Well, maybe a teensy bit. But what I really want is… Is your father's kingdom."
With that, Emily turned her body towards and cried angrily, "Take it then, Diesel! You have enough power!"
"Nah, I tried that before.", Diesel replied as he then said, "Once you steal something, you spend your whole life fighting to keep it."
Emily was confused at first until Diesel used his magic towards her, which made Emily wore an elegant white swan-like dress with a silver tiara as a fine touch. She gasped at his action as he then turned his assistant's outfit into a bridesmaid dress, and then he made everything into a room that was full of subjects. He also changed his outfit to what a king would wear along with wearing a golden crown with emeralds and rubies on it. There he announced, "But if I marry the only heir to the throne. We'll rule your father's kingdom together, legally, King and Queen. You know?"
With that, Emily shook her head and cried, "Never!"
After what she said she ran off and everything turned back to normal, except Diesel was still wearing a crown. He laughed as he said, "Where are you going?"
Emily ignored that question as she wanted to get out of here. However, Diesel smirked as decided to lie to make Emily stay at the Swan Lake area, "If you leave this lake and moonlight leaves the lake, you'll turn back into a swan! No matter where you are!"
With that, the tortoise and the frog looked at each other sadly as they pitied the princess. When Emily heard this, she thought he was telling the truth about the leaving part and began to cover her eyes with her hands as she began to cry. She felt trapped and she knew that if she tries to leave the lake and seek help, she will most likely get shot by a hunter. Diesel grinned from seeing her sadness and he and his assistant, Mavis, went off to the dark, ruined castle. Emily's cry was so loud that it echoed throughout the Swan Lake area.
…
Two months flew by and Caitlin and along with everyone in Queen Lillian's kingdom did attempt to find Emily, but with no such luck. Despite everyone had given up on finding her, Caitlin didn't as she felt that feeling that Emily was still alive and that she must be held captive by the Great Animal. She knew that she wouldn't give up on finding her as knew that Emily needed her, even though Caitlin made a silly move back when she announced the marriage.
…
One day, outside the kingdom's garden, Spencer was filling the arrow that was covered by a brown bag and fluff with orange powder as he already finished the other one by filling it with blue powder. He shook the bucket hard as he said, "The musicians are not happy."
"I know, but I have to practice.", Caitlin replied as she tied an orange fabric around her eyes so she can't see anything.
"Oh, no complaints here.", Spencer said happily as he got the bucket facing towards him while patting the bucket's end, "I think it's going to be loads of… fun."
However, when he did that, orange powder flew out and covered his face. He coughed as he groaned annoyance. While he tried to wipe his face off, Henry peeped through his blue fabric to see his surrounding as Caitlin spoke with determination, "The Great Animal is never going to give her up without a fight."
"Do you honestly think she's still alive?", Spencer asked as he was surprised that Caitlin still thinks that Emily was out there somewhere.
"When I find the Great Animal, Spencer, I'll find Emily.", replied Caitlin.
Spencer frowned as he finished wiping the orange powder from his face, "Oh Caitlin. You've looked everywhere along with the guards. Face it, she's not coming back. The whole kingdom knows it."
"Well, the whole kingdom is wrong!", Caitlin replied as then added, "Emily is alive, and I'm going to find her!"
With that, she turned her direction to Henry as she smiled, "You ready, Henry?"
Henry was still peeping through his blue fabric when Spencer cried, "No peeking!"
Henry froze as he stood still like a shoulder, obeying Spencer's order. After that, Spencer turned his head towards the ten musicians as he shouted, "Animals, assemble!"
However, as the musicians came out, one of the musicians named James huffed and he said, "Lord Spencer, I must object. We are musicians!"
"The servants have the day off, so we have to use someone.", Spencer replied as he rolled his eyes.
"But I'm an artist! Not a boar!", cried another musician named Oliver.
Spencer shook his head as he mumbled dryly, "Could've fooled me."
"Oh, the indignity!", cried another musician named Gordon as he groaned with annoyance.
"Oh, come on guys!", said Caitlin with enthusiasm as she kicked an arrow despite being blindfolded, "They're harmless."
With that, Spencer turned his attention back to the musicians as he grinned with his eyebrows going up and down multiple times. However, the musician began to complain as they dressed as animals. James dressed up as a fox, Oliver dressed up as a boar, Gordon dressed up as an elephant, another musician named Donald, and Douglas dressed as a moose with Donald as the front part while Douglas as the back part. Another musician named Ryan dressed as a stork. Once they were dressed, a man named Thomas put his bear outfit on as he cried, "It's more than I can bear!"
However, one of the musicians named Flynn, who wore a duck outfit, tried to do his webbed feet when he tripped over, causing others to fall. There, a musician named Edward, who dressed up as a lion, groaned as he said what day it was with sarcasm. Once everyone got up, Spencer instructed them to be ferocious as possible. However, all but one glared at him as they felt humiliated. Then, one musician named Bertie, who dressed up as a rabbit, decided to roar. Spencer gasped as he then shouted, "Not you, Bertie! You're a rabbit! For heaven's sake!"
After that comment, Bertie stomped his foot with his arms folded in annoyance as others looked at him with a glare. With that, Spencer held the strings that were attached to the blindfolders as he shouted, "Alright! Ready! Set!"
When he shouted, all the musicians ran in different directions to get away from Caitlin and Henry, "Go!", cried Spencer as he pulled the strings.
Henry got dizzy from that, but Caitlin started right away as she first shot Oliver behind his back with an arrow and a bow. Next, Caitlin then shot Ryan while Henry was struggling to prepare a bow and an arrow. Then, Caitlin saw James and shot him, causing him to whine for he said that his outfit is now dirty. However, when Henry got his weapon sorted, he saw Bertie stick his tongue out and he made a "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah", facial expression to gain Henry's attention. Henry saw him and tried to shoot him, but the arrow didn't go anywhere. Bertie pointed his index finger at him, laughing as he ran off.
While Henry chased after Bertie, Caitlin spotted Thomas, James, and Gordon at the hedge as she began to shoot at them. The trio's eyes went wide as James cried, "Duck!"
As the trio ducked for cover, Flynn popped his head out as he thought James has something to say, "Yes?"
As a result, Flynn got shot in the face, causing him to be covered with orange powder. Caitlin was satisfied with her targeting skills, but it wasn't the same goes for Henry as when he looked for Bertie, he saw him standing on a pillar as he waved at him with a chuckle. Henry managed to shoot, but Bertie swung his giant stick at the arrow, causing it to go in the other direction, which hit Henry in the face. Henry was stunned by it as he coughed.
After that, Caitlin saw Flynn coming out of his hiding area and shot him three times in a row. Once she had done that, she saw Donald and Douglas and began to shoot them. Luckily, Donald and Douglas ducked just in time as the arrow missed them. Caitlin didn't care as she was gaining more points than Henry. However, when she saw the trio hiding behind another hedge, she went to shoot them. Thomas, James, and Gordon gasped as Thomas cried, "Duck!"
When the trio ducked, Flynn popped up, annoyed as he asked Thomas, "What?"
With that, Flynn got shot again. Caitlin continued to shoot while Henry was struggling to get Bertie. Henry was frustrated but he was so determined to get Bertie while he just could of try to aim at the others. However, the only reason why he wanted to get Bertie was that he worth a hundred points, which was the highest point.
…
Meanwhile, at the royal garden table, everyone was having tea, talking about Caitlin always practiced her targeting skills, and kept thinking about Emily. Queen Lillian couldn't agree more as she felt frustrated about her daughter's behaviour. However, their teatime would come to an abrupt halt when an arrow shot past them. No one was hurt, but Flynn ran for dear life as he tried to get away. Everyone turned their heads to the arrow's direction on where it came from, but only for them to duck.
Behind a tree, everyone but Flynn, Gordon, and Bertie were hiding as Flynn was still running while Henry was chasing after Bertie. Caitlin saw them and shot at all of them at once. While Flynn was running, he began to slip as he cried to warn Gordon to watch out. Gordon didn't saw him until it was too late.
"Twelve seconds left!", cried Spencer.
As Flynn and Gordon were balancing, they went behind the tree where everyone else was hiding and they all stacked up like a tower. They all cried as every noblemen and noblewomen witnessed the whole ordeal. As the nine musicians flew in the air, Caitlin shot them all at once with no problem, while Henry tried to shoot Bertie with no success. As Bertie ran away, Caitlin spotted him as she began to shoot him while he tried to hide behind a bush.
After twelve seconds went by, Spencer cried that the time was up. There, every musician assembled as they felt tired, weak, and sore. Spencer looked at them and began to tally the point with a scroll and a feather. He was impressed with Caitlin's skills and Caitlin told the musician that they can have a day off. Once Spencer was done with the tally, he announced the total points that Caitlin received, "Two hundred and ninety-eight points! Well done, Caitlin!"
What he and Caitlin didn't know was that Henry cheated by banging the blue powder on Bertie three times so he can get three hundred points. When Spencer looked at the nine musicians, he saw no blue powders and looked at Henry with a smirk, saying that it was a pity that he didn't get any points. Henry didn't care as he shrugged with a smile. There, Spencer then announced, "And last but not least the elusive hundred-point! The white rabbit!"
When he looked at Bertie, he gasped in surprise to see that three blue powder marks were on Bertie, "I believe it's three hundred points, Spencer!"
"Good job!", Caitlin congratulated her until she had something else to say, "But, just wait for a moment."
There, she used her index finger to make a circle motion to instruct Bertie to turn around. He did, and when Caitlin showed a single orange powder that was behind him, she chuckled, "Sorry, Henry."
Henry then congratulated Caitlin as he then boasted how brave he was himself. When Spencer heard that, he frowned at him as he then challenged Henry to do "The Catch and Fire" challenge. Henry gulped in nervously as he asked him why him doing it, to which Spencer replied, "You're the only one with enough c-c-c-c-c-c-c-courage."
…
Thirty minutes went by and Henry was wearing armour with a helmet as Spencer began to tie a string that held a rosy red apple. Spencer then asked if he was alright and Henry replied with a yes. However, when Spencer tied a knot too tightly, Henry choked, "Ugh! Too tight! Too tight!"
"Whoops! So sorry!", Spencer replied as he gave him a sarcastic smile.
Once Henry was ready, he prepared the bow and an arrow, ready to shoot at Caitlin. Caitlin moved her feet from the soil of the earth below as she waited for the right moment to catch the arrow. Henry kept shaking as he tried to shoot while Spencer gave him a frown. Finally, Henry managed to shoot, and Caitlin turned her body just in time as she caught the arrow. There, she shot the arrow at the apple that made the apple sliced in half perfectly. Spencer caught one half of the apple as he still has a frown on his face. Henry fainted from it as Spencer praised Caitlin's shooting skills.
However, when he went to Henry, he said he was lucky that he didn't get shot in the head. With that comment, Henry fainted again as Spencer chuckled. Caitlin smiled at them for a moment before she looked at the sunset with sad eyes as she made a vow, "Don't lose hope, Emily. Wherever you are, I'm going to find you. I promise."
