Ten chapters with almost 800 views! Victory dance! :)

I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. It's finally got some good old-fashioned action! I don't know about y'all but I was getting tired of all that romantic stuff. Bleh!

And without further adieu, I introduce you to the first river escapade chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 11: River Escapade Part One

The First Night After Leaving the Castle

Finn got up and silently walked down to sit by the small campfire. The marriage alliance was still keeping him awake at night. But when Captain Maybeck sat down beside him minutes later, he immediately came up with a plan and relayed it to him.

"So you want me to flirt it up with the queen?" The captain asked Finn.

"Yes. If she starts liking someone besides me, she'll realize her mistake and call off the wedding."

"Why can't you just man up and tell her you don't want to marry her?"

"Because I made a promise to her. I don't want to break it, but if she happens to change her mind—"

"Then you get off scotch-free. I see."

"And we still get the help of her army."

"That's what I call a win-win-win."

"I'm pretty sure it's just two wins."

"Yeah, two wins for you and one for me. Assuming I get Charlene in the end." He winked at Finn.

"Sounds like we have ourselves a deal."

"You betcha." The captain extended his hand to Finn and he shook it.

The soldier that brought them the news said the other side of the island would take us three to four days to make it to where Maleficent's soldiers were spotted.

They had no problems until the afternoon on the second day.

They had been walking all day with a short break for lunch. Philby was currently leading the group with Willa by his side. He was wearing the armor that he had been wearing when Finn had first met him and was using his sword to cut branches out of the way. Instead of her usual simple dress, Willa had gotten a pair of pants and a fitted linen shirt, even Finn had to admire she looked stunning.

Charlene and Maybeck were walking behind them talking with the queen's bodyguard that refused to leave her on this mission. Despite knowing that the group would be trekking through the forest, she had put on tight black pants and light blue tank top with a brand new black leather jacket over it.

Leave it to Charlene to wear the latest fashion while going on a mission, Finn thought to himself.

Captain Maybeck had gotten a hold of some Floridian armor somehow and was complaining about the "girly" look it had. Charlene had spent most of the day trying to convince him he was wrong—a big mistake on her behalf. The two had been fighting all day, with the captain clearly winning.

Finn and Amanda trailed behind both of them, holding hands. After beginning their journey, Finn had watched as Charlene got closer to the captain. Finn's plan was slowly working, and he couldn't be happier.

That was, until suddenly he heard Willa shriek and Philby yell after her.

Finn rushed to the front of the group and saw that Willa had just tumbled into the river below. Finn figured she must have tripped, fell and Philby never had the chance to catch her.

Finn and Philby shared a quick glance, both knowing exactly what had to be done.

Philby threw off his shirt and dove into the fast-moving current. Finn ran along the side of the river, trying to get in front of her.

Philby surfaced and saw her drifting downstream fast.

"Over there! Hurry!" Philby pointed and yelled to Finn as he swam with the current to get her.

One word Finn would never call Willa is stupid. She was trying her best to grab hold of the many rocks lying in the riverbed. Every time she got a chance, she would scream for help or try to extend her arm toward Finn. All of her attempts, though all of them the logical and somewhat helpful, ended in failure.

Finn could see that Philby was doing his best to catch up, but the current was fighting back, trying to claim two victims.

"Finn!" He turned around to see Charlene jumping up and down, pointing to something downstream. "A WATERFALL!"

Finn looked where Charlene had been pointing and all the color drained from his face. They had about maybe a minute to save Willa or she would go over the waterfall.

Finn ran all the way to the edge of the cliff, where the waterfall was located, and used his sword to cut a large branch from a nearby tree. While he was sawing it off, he kept glancing back at Philby and Willa. Philby was now within reach of Willa and was trying to grab a hold of her.

Finn felt the branch fall off and he immediately placed it just over the water so that Philby and Willa could grab on.

Willa had her back turned to the waterfall, so she couldn't see the branch that Finn had placed in the water. Philby reached out, grabbed her arm, and she turned around just in time for her to crash into the branch so hard that Finn almost let go.

Willa went under the water and Philby immediately went under and resurfaced a few seconds later with her. Finn thought Willa looked unconscious, but decided not to worry about that just yet.

Philby held Willa with his right arm and used his left to pull himself closer to Finn. Once he got close enough, Captain Maybeck took Willa out of his arms and Philby slipped under.

Dillard came over, reached into the water and struggled to pull Philby out. Finn let go of the branch, sending it over the waterfall, and leaned back onto the grass, breathing heavily.

When Finn had gotten his breath back, he went over to see how Willa and Philby were doing.

Willa was shivering due to the cold water, but overall she was fine. Charlene pulled off her jacket and was placing it on Willa's shoulders.

Philby, on the other hand, didn't look so good. Finn never learned anything about the human body and how it should work, but he was pretty sure Philby's left ankle was not supposed to look the way it did. Luckily for Philby, he had passed out.

After a few minutes, Willa made her way over to where Philby was lying and looked at his ankle.

"It's twisted," she said to Finn with a sad look in her eyes. Finn could tell seeing Philby like this was killing her.

"How do we fix it?"

"We untwist it, duh." The captain spat off, but Willa ignored him.

"I'm going to have to pop it back into place. It's going to be very painful for him."

"Good thing he's passed out, right?" Finn asked Willa.

"Yeah. I...I guess so." She positioned herself so that she could pop his ankle back into place. "Somebody should put his shirt in his mouth so that if he wakes up he won't scream."

Without a second thought, Charlene did as Willa suggested.

"Okay, on three. One…two…three…" Willa twisted Philby's ankle and there was an disturbing, popping sound that Finn knew would haunt him in his nightmares tonight.

Philby didn't wake up for another ten minutes or so, but as long as Willa was with him, Finn knew he would be okay.

The group decided spending the night by the riverside was a good idea after their river escapade. They made camp quickly and just after the sun had set everyone had fallen asleep.

Jess stepped off of the boat and onto the docks. She had never been to Florida before. She pulled her green cape closer to her and walked toward the city. She could see the castle in the distance and wondered whether or not Prince Finnegan was there.

Tied to the belt around her waist was a small leather pouch. Inside this pouch was some money, the small journal she had stolen from Maleficent and a written note. The queen had instructed Jess to give it to the prince upon finding him. Jess had been really curious about what the note said, but she refrained from reading it, for she knew that the prince would know if she had been reading his private things.

She had been walking through the streets, closer and closer to the castle when she looked up and realized there was no royal flag flying.

That either meant one of two things.

One: Maleficent had already taken over. Jess immediately dismissed that, due to the lack of soldiers. And besides, Jess knew Maleficent would have come herself for that. That brought Jess to the second explanation.

Two: The queen was not in the city, which could only mean that she was out with the prince, hopefully headed back to California. But Jess knew that was wishful thinking.

Jess continued on, for she had a strong feeling the prince was in Florida. And she needed to find him before Maleficent's search team did.

Lady Isabel walked through the streets of Anaheim. Upon buying himself and his family a royal title, her father had relocated the family to Anaheim, to be closer to the royal family.

Today, Lady Isabel decided to go to the monastery's library. She needed a new book to read, and her new tutor had told her that the monastery was the best place to look.

She walked through the streets, trying to blend in with the villagers. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself. But it was hard not to attract a few stares when wearing such an elegant dress. Lady Isabel could feel the cold stares of the people, making her walk faster.

Lady Isabel unconsciously searched the crowd for a friendly face, not someone she necessarily knew, but someone who would smile at her instead of glaring.

Right outside of the monastery, she noticed two soldiers walking the streets, probably patrolling. One of them was a young man with red hair.

He walked over to her and opened the monastery door for her when she reached it.

"Why thank you soldier. You're too kind." She said while he opened the door for her.

"Just doing my job, ma'am." He smiled at her and Lady Isabel blushed. The two stared at each for a little bit longer than Lady Isabel figured was necessary.

"Well I wouldn't want to keep you from your job. I'd better get inside. Thank you again."

"It was my pleasure, my lady."

Lady Isabel walked through the door with a giant smile on her face. She couldn't help but be happy. It wasn't every day an attractive young man talked to her.

One of the monks led her to the library and gave her a brief tour.

One book stuck out over all the others, and she opened it on one of the tables.

After searching the book for a few minutes, one passage immediately captured Lady Isabel's attention.

"…the uninhabited island is home to an ancient temple. During ancient times, natives of surrounding islands would use this temple on the summer solstice to sacrifice humans to appease the gods. A priest would be elected at the end of the ceremony to stay at the temple for a year, preparing it for next year's celebration…"

Lady Isabel had never heard of this ancient temple or the island in which the book claimed it was located, but she felt wrapped up into the world of these ancient people.

After the sun set, a monk politely told her the library was closing. Lady Isabel asked if she could borrow the book for a night or two and the monk agreed.

That night she used a candle to read it well into the night. Upon finishing reading for the night, Lady Isabel placed the book under her bed.

Three days later, she'd be taken prisoner by Maleficent.

Willa awoke with a start. For some reason, she knew that book would be important. She made the mental note to commit that dream to memory.

For the rest of the night, Willa leaned against a tree with Philby's head in her lap. She couldn't sleep. She wouldn't sleep until she figured out why she thought that was important. An ancient temple, on an uninhabited island… Willa searched harder in her memory. She was forgetting something big. For some reason this book was important.

Ancient temple used for…for human sacrifices once a year…on an uninhabited island…

What was she forgetting? There had to be something she read in the book. Something was tugging at her, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Then it hit her.

Another cliffhanger! Boy I love writing those! Hahaha! Guess y'all get to look forward to river escapade part 2, coming soon!

Review, please! I love reading them!