Chapter Six: The Reunion of The Two Princesses
Back at Queen Lillian's castle in the garden area, Caitlin spotted Henry under the tree, munching his rosy red apple. So, she wasted no time and went up to him to show on what she thought about King Mitchell's last words. There, she placed a page that she ripped from a book of a mouse on a rock as Henry looked at the page with confusion, "It's a mouse.", he said while he was eating his apple.
"The Great Animal.", replied Caitlin as she looked determined to defeat the Great Animal and to find Emily.
Henry looked at Caitlin for a moment speechless until he chuckled weakly, "A tad small, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh yeah? Until it changes into this", replied Caitlin as she placed another page on top of a dragon.
Henry was confused by Caitlin's theory as he looked at her with one eyebrow up. There Caitlin began to explain her theory, "An animal that can change its shape. A harmless creature approaches… then suddenly, it's too late."
With that, Henry gulped as he asked nervously to his friend, "Y-you mean… you mean it could be anything?"
"Anything.", Caitlin replied as she hopped onto her horse as she rode off, preparing to go into the forest to find the Great Animal.
Once Caitlin left, Henry was about to take another bite from his apple when a fly buzzed around him, causing him to scream as he tripped over while attempting to shoo the fly away. As a result, he lost of apple as he shook in fear badly.
…
Meanwhile, at Swan Lake, the trio got better from the accident as it wasn't major damage. However, Percy couldn't stop apologising to Emily as he felt like he let her down for not being brave, but Emily told him that he didn't let her down and that it was brave for him to take a risk in this case, let alone working as a team with Toby and Duck. Once Percy felt like Emily had accepted his apology, Duck called for Emily, Percy, and Toby to get their attention as he has something to say, "Alright guys! Today's the day that will Caitlin come here! Emily, prepare for take-off!"
"Right.", Emily replied as she nodded her head for affirmation.
With that, Duck looked at Toby and Percy as he said, "You two! Are you ready for your assignment?"
"Yes, I am.", Toby replied as he saluted.
"Umm… I think so.", said Percy nervously.
Duck looked at Percy with a small frown as he said, "You think so? Let's try again! Are you ready for your assignment?"
When he asked the same question, Percy build his confidence as he replied bravely, "Yes, Duck! I am!"
"Great!", Duck exclaimed, "Alright Emily, let's take-off!"
Emily nodded as the two flew away from the lake as they went off for their mission. Toby and Percy wished them luck as they hope that they will find Caitlin and get her to come. Though Toby has faith in them, Percy started to worry about their safety. What if they get lost? What if a wild animal had gotten them or what if a hunter has shot them and used them as trophies? With those thoughts, Toby assured him that they'll be fine, and he reminded him to have no fear. Just having Toby to help him, made Percy feel better as he started to feel calm.
…
At the other side of Swan Lake, Caitlin and Henry were on their horses as they rode deep into the forest where sunlight barely hit the ground as the trees were thick as they had rich orange leaves to cover the blue sky. Once they got in the middle of the forest, Caitlin and Henry hopped off their horses as they prepared their bow and arrow to kill the Great Animal. Caitlin was confident, but Henry was very scared as his legs felt like jelly as his heart beat faster than the speed of light. As they wandered inside the forest, Henry asked the courageous princess in a whisper tone, "Umm… Caitlin? How will you know when the Great Animal is present?"
"It will be here when I can feel it.", Caitlin replied as she walked deeper and deeper into the forest.
Henry tried to follow her, but when the two were in separate directions, Henry began to call for Caitlin's name loudly as he felt really scared. When Caitlin heard his cry, she shushed him harshly as she didn't want to provoke the Great Animal if it's anywhere nearby. Henry turned his head and saw Caitlin as he sighed in relief. He chuckled nervously as he apologised for him shouting. Caitlin rolled her eyes in annoyance, yet she knew that Henry was being sincere. However, as the two continued to find the Great Animal, Henry spotted a small mouse running past him, and he thought it was the Great Animal. There, he went his separate way to go after the small rodent, which got him lost despite being unaware of it. Once he saw the mouse got cornered by a tree stump, he prepared his arrow as he was preparing to shoot the poor innocent rodent. When he told the mouse that he wasn't afraid as he gave the mouse a scary look. However, when Henry asked the mouse to change its form, the small rodent squeaked, which made Henry screamed at the top of his lungs as he runs away in fear.
…
Meanwhile, Emily and Duck had just arrived at the forest as they knew that they have to be careful or they would be dead. However, as they flew, Emily spotted something, more like someone as she exclaimed with a gasp, "Caitlin! She's here!"
With that, Emily had forgotten about the plan as she wanted to see Caitlin again. Duck gasped in horror as he tried to block her way, "You will not lose control. You will follow the plan as outlined. Acknowledge. Acknowledge!"
However, his attempt to block Emily's was proven unsuccessful as she flew past him, causing him to cry in absolute horror, "Emily!"
…
Back in the middle of the forest, Caitlin looked in every direction while trying to avoid making any noise possible. However, when she heard a twig snapped, she gasped as she rolled on the ground, preparing to aim at the Great Animal. When she looked around, she saw nothing as she continued her search, remaining bold and daring. While she was looking, Emily was getting closer to Caitlin as she exclaimed in a whisper with a gasp, "Caitlin!"
When Caitlin what's ahead of her, she saw a speck of light appeared for a second before it vanished. Caitlin raised her eyebrow as she looked at it with a frown. However, a moment later, she saw a beautiful white swan with a chestnut brown stripe on her forehead with emerald green eyes. As she witnessed the swan was heading towards her, Caitlin immediately hid behind a tree and she talked to herself in realisation, "A swan? A swan! Of course! It's not what it seems!"
As she saw the swan getting closer and closer, she was preparing herself to shoot it, not knowing it was Emily. Once the swan closer, Caitlin shouted as she was ready to shoot, "This one's for Emily!"
"Ah! Emily! Look out!", cried Duck when he found her.
There, Duck pushed Emily away in time as Caitlin shot an arrow. When she saw that the swan got away, her eyes narrowed as she went after it. She ran as fast as she could as she tried to aim at the flying bird multiple times. However, as she chased after the swan, Emily tried to fly as fast as possible despite Duck told her to slow down so they won't lose Caitlin. While Duck tried to slow Emily down, an arrow nearly shot at him and that's when he realised that Caitlin was getting closer. Emily did tell Duck that Caitlin was fast, and she asked Duck what to do frantically as she feared that she would get killed. Luckily, Duck suggested that they should fly to the sun to blind Caitlin's eyes. They both did, and the sunlight had causes agony to Caitlin's eyes as she covered her eyes, while trying to find the swan. Emily and Caitlin thought they were safe from Caitlin. However, the sun began to set as now they were exposed. When they try to see Caitlin, she was long gone and when they turned their heads, they saw Caitlin at the cliff, ready to shoot. The two birds gasped as they flew to the trees, trying to hide from Caitlin. It worked but they knew that they can't hide for long as they have to get back to Swan Lake so Emily can turn back into her human form and be with Caitlin. As they hid, Duck told Emily to fly while he would play dead. There, Duck used some of the red berries as blood as he landed on the ground hard, pretending to be dead.
When Caitlin heard a thud, she turned her head to see an olive green puffin on the ground, looking like it was going to die. As she went to examine the "dead" puffin, Duck opened his eyes and bit Caitlin's left foot hard. Caitlin yelped in pain as she held her left foot while trying to stand up.
…
Night-time came and Toby and Percy began to worry about Emily and Duck as they thought that they would never come back. However, Toby spotted Emily and Duck flying towards him as Percy grabbed two fireflies to show them that they were there. Emily and Duck saw them and flew towards them. Once they landed, they saw Caitlin arrived as she gasped in awe. She didn't expect to find a dark, ruined castle next to a lovely lake. She said quietly to herself, "What is this place?"
While Caitlin looked around, Emily and her friends looked at the moon as Duck told her it's time for her to go on the lake so the moon can change her back into a human. However, Emily shook her head as a no as she felt scared. When Duck asked why she won't do it, she said that Caitlin would kill her. However, when Duck said it's now or never, Emily knew that the puffin was right as this was her only chance.
So, she took a deep breath as she flew to the lake, preparing for her transformation. However, when she looked at the reflection, the reflection of the crescent moon was blocked by the clouds. Emily gasped in horror as she looked at the sky. As she looked at the sky, Caitlin was ready to shoot her. Before she could make any moves, Duck swooped in so he can distract her so Emily can transform back into a human. Just before Caitlin could get Duck, something glowed bright yellow as she turned around in confusion. When she turned her body, she witnessed a bunch of water covering 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 at the lake.
Caitlin's eyes went wide as her mouth dropped. She couldn't believe it. The swan that she tried to kill was Emily this whole time. As she saw Emily standing on the lake, tears escaped from her eyes as Emily said, "Hello, Caitlin."
With that, Caitlin dropped her bow as she ran to Emily. When she got to Emily, she picked her up in the air and she spun around as the two laughed in joy. After that, Caitlin put her down as the two shared a quick kiss. Once they finished their kiss, Emily's eyes beamed as she said happily, "Oh Caitlin, I've missed you so much."
After that, Caitlin embraced her as she hugged her tightly as she tried not to cry hard, "No one believed me, but I knew that you're alive this whole time.", she cried in joy.
However, their happiness was short-lived when Emily told Caitlin that she can't stay here. Just hearing that made Caitlin upset as she didn't want to lose Emily again and she apologised for the incident she made before Emily got kidnapped. Emily knew that she was sorry as she forgave her already. Once Emily accepted her apology, they both heard a voice of a man shouting, "Emily!"
Emily gasped in horror, "Oh no!"
Caitlin looked at Emily with concern as she then looked to see where the voice was coming from. Judging by Emily's facial expression, she knew that something was wrong. So, she asked Emily, "Who is it? What's going on?"
"It's him!", cried Emily as her eyes went wide as she went pale as a ghost.
"Who?", asked Caitlin as she looked at her beloved princess.
"He has me under a spell!", cried Emily as she tried to push Caitlin away.
When she heard that the voice of the man was the one that had Emily under a spell, she growled aggressively as she said to let him come so she can finish him. However, placed her hands on Caitlin's shoulder blade as she told her not to as he was far too powerful that even an army of men would be killed. When she heard that, Caitlin grabbed Emily's left hand as she said to come with her, but Emily pushed her gently as she shook her head violently. She explained that when the moon sets, she will back into a swan.
Heartbroken to hear that, Caitlin asked if there's anything that she could do to break the terrible spell that Emily was under. Emily responded that the spell can be broken by a vow of everlasting love that's proven to the world and that she had to kiss her. When she heard that, Caitlin remembered about tomorrow night as she was having a royal ball. So, Caitlin told her to come to the castle as everyone throughout the land is attending and that she will make a vow of everlasting love. Just hearing that made Emily happy as she blushed in a fine shade of pink, but the only problem was that if she left the lake she would turn back into a swan, so some doubts still lingered in her mind.
However, when they heard the same voice, Emily gasped as she told Caitlin to leave. When she heard Emily's plead, Caitlin then remembered something. So, she went into her pocket and threw a swan imprinted golden heart necklace to Emily. Emily gasped as she looked at Caitlin with pure love as Caitlin did the same thing. However, when they heard the voice crying for Emily's name one last time, Caitlin ran off as Emily turned her head to where the voice was coming from. There, stood Diesel as he asked her with a raised eyebrow and a frown, "Emily! Didn't you hear me calling because you were talking to someone?"
Emily began to stutter as she tried to find a way to convince him that she talked to no one. However, when Diesel asked the same question, Emily took a deep breath and lied, "Well, I was talking to myself because of I-I… I decided that I wanted to be your queen."
When the trio heard this conversation, Toby felt like he was going to gag as Percy fainted with Duck caught him in the process. Just hearing that Emily wanted to be his queen, he began to dance around in joy as he promised her to be a good king. However, after a minute of him prancing, he looked at her with an evil grin as he asked who's bow does it belong to as he revealed Caitlin's bow in front of her. Emily and the trio gasped as they got caught. Diesel chuckled as he said that he wasn't fooled by her and heard everything about the conversation. There, Diesel threw the bow into the lake as Emily cried in anger, "I will never be yours! You creature! I will marry Princess Caitlin and you cannot stop me!"
Diesel then told her that she won't attend the ball as he grabbed the necklace from her, and he even admitted he lied about leaving the lake would make her turned back into a swan. When Emily heard this, she felt angry as he lied to her and she was about to storm off when Diesel stopped her by saying that there's nothing that she could do. However, when Emily told him that if he wanted to stop her, he must kill her. When he heard those words from Emily, Diesel growled in anger as he shouted, "No! I don't think so! You see, you've forgotten one very important thing!"
With that, Diesel calmed himself down as he grinned evilly, "You see, tomorrow, there will be no moon!"
After he made that comment, Diesel laughed crazily as Emily looked at the crescent moon in horror. There, she collapsed herself to the ground at the edge of the lake as she began to cry her heart out. She was upset as now she can't escape from Diesel and that with her being a swan the next night, she knew that there was no way she would go there without risking her life from wild animals and hunters.
