"What's all this here noise?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"G-G-Giant!" Whimpered the terrified Moza in reply.
"Use ye sword, kid"
"How?!" Jack replied, since he had never used a sword before.
"Since you are a king, I assumed ye had knight training"
"Well I didn't"
"This is most troublesome." Scoffed Agatha at Jack. "How do you expect to save my sister then"
"I'll find out a way..."
The lumberjack knelt down in front of Jack, his teeth bared while scowling. His teeth were yellow and he had very bad breath. Jack's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed onto the ground. Moza rushed over to the fallen Jack and checked his pulse for any signs of life. His pulse was normal, but the stench of the lumberjack's mouth knocked him out cold. Moza glared up at the lumberjack and wagged his finger at the giant. Smithy then charged at the giant, but was kicked away with ease into the shack, sending him through the wall and knocking him out.
"Shame on you!" Moza screeched. "To do such a thing to the king of Wonderwood and out finest blacksmith"
"Kiiiiiiing...?" Groaned the giant.
The giant rushed his beard throughly in thought. Moza was confounded by the length of the lumberjack's beard. It was brown and went all the way down to the middle of his chest. The lumberjack looked down at Moza and extended his hand.
"I had no idea he was the king." The giant moaned. "I thought he was another giant slayer"
"His majesty would NEVER harm a friendly giant"
"Good to know..."
Moza sort of shook the giant's hand and the lumberjack stood upright.
"What might your name be?" Moza asked with a grin, relieved the giant was "friendly.
"Timber." The giant replied, also grinning.
"What a mighty name! Well, not as mighty as the king's... But still mighty"
"No need to patronize me"
"Oh, of course!"
Moza returned his gaze to Jack and saw an all-too-familiar face. A face that belonged to Stephanie. Stephanie was knelt down beside Jack and appeared to be giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Moza was shocked and appalled that a commoner had her lips on the king's. Moza marched over to Stephanie and grabbed her by the shoulder. Stephanie stopped the mouth-to-mouth, wiped her lips then looked at Moza. Moza shook his head at Stephanie.
"What did I do now?" Stephanie sighed heavily.
"Young lady, you know better than to have relations with the king! He is way out of your league! Also, he is more than a few years older"
"RELATIONS?! I was... uhh... giving him mouth-to-mouth"
"Oh, in that case carry on! Do tell me when he comes to"
"Okay, sure, whatever."
Moza turned his back on Stephanie and trudged off while Stephanie continued her "mouth-to-mouth" on Jack. Agatha looked over at Stephanie and smirked. The woman walked over to Stephanie, grabber her by the shoulder and shoved her aside.
"Move it, sweet cheeks!" Agatha barked. "I'll show you how to do it properly!"
Agatha then placed her moldy old lips on Jack's and kissed him wildly. Stephanie couldn't do anything but be sickened at the sight of an old lady kissing a young man. It was incredibly repulsive. Stephanie stood up, grabbed Agatha and shoved her off similarly to how she was shoved herself.
"You're doing it all wrong!" Argued the enraged Stephanie.
Stephanie then continued her "mouth-to-mouth" on Jack happily. All of a sudden Jack started coughing. Stephanie took her lips off of Jack's and watched the man cough. When Jack stopped coughing, she continued. Jack's eyes slowly opened and watched as Stephanie kissed him. Jack pushed Stephanie off of him and spat into the grass surrounding him. He then ran let out a mighty scream, but after that continued spitting. Stephanie looked unhappy. Probably because Jack didn't like her giving him "CPR" all that much. Moza, hearing the scream, ran over to Jack's aid. Moza helped Jack to his feet and helped him over to Timber. After a short conversation, Agatha got impatient. Everyone then agreed Jack go to knight school before rescuing Agatha's sister. After agreeing, nothing special happened and and sun begun to set.
Under the sunset Jack sat on a hill staring at the sunset. He begun asking himself if he should ask Moza some questions about Wonderwood, like how he became king and why there was a light switch in a medieval castle. Deep in thought, Jack paid no attention to the sunset or his surroundings; not even Stephanie who had snuck up on him. Stephanie sat down beside Jack and looked at him. Jack didn't pay her any attention, so she got up and sat down in front of him. Jack was still deep in thought and hence, paid no attention to Stephanie.
'What do I have to do to get his attention?' She thought to herself.
Stephanie got an idea about how she could get Jack's attention. She stoop up in front of Jack. She then put her arms behind her back and began undoing her dress. Jack then "came back to Earth" and stopped thinking heavily. Jack's sight returned and he saw Stephanie, but more importantly, trying to take her dress off. Jack, like always, screamed at the sight and ran off into the castle.
Jack sat on his bed inside his master bedroom, wondering why Stephanie was so hell-bent on doing the things she was doing. First finding her in his bed, then waking up with her in his bed, then peeping on him, then kissing him while he was unconscious and now undressing in front of him to get his attention. Jack thought hard about what to do. He thought the best thing to do was ignore her. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Jack got up and walked to the door. He stopped and thought to himself. He thought if it was Stephanie, he would shut the door on her. Jack grabbed the knob and turned it, allowing the door to swing open. It was Stephanie. Jack tried to shut the door, but Stephanie blocked the door with her shoe.
"We need to talk..." Stephanie said, looking glum.
"Denied." Grumbled Jack while pushing Stephanie's foot out of the door.
Jack closed the door and locked it. He then sat down on his bed and returned to thinking about what to do. The next morning he would be taking knight classes while avoiding Stephanie. He thought it would be difficult to pay attention to class while avoiding a potential stalker. Jack lay down on his bed while continuing thinking deep in thought. He thought so hard he was tired, so he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. Little did he know that Stephanie had a plan the next morning.
The following morning Jack woke up safe and sound from Stephanie as she didn't try to climb through the window or picklock the door. Jack decided today would be the day he asked Moza the questions he had in mind. At least it would get one thing off his mind. Jack unlocked the door and wandered through the halls in search of Moza. He found him in the throne room talking to Agatha. He approached Moza while trying not to take a glance over at Agatha.
"Moza, we need to talk"
"Very well, sire. Agatha, off with you"
"Keeping a secret from me? How rude!"
Agatha burst out of the room with a screech. Moza then looked over at Jack.
"I have a few questions to ask you, Moza"
"Shoot"
"I wanted to know why I became king"
"Did someone tell you to ask me that"
"You could say that"
"Very well, I will tell you how you became king. Long ago the council elders appointed a king. As you know, kings rule their whole lifetime. Once a king is... deceased, his oldest son takes his place"
"So you're saying my father was a king before me"
"Not exactly. You see, before you were king the then-current king had no sons, so the council decided we needed a new family. Luckily enough, you were selected randomly"
"Oh, okay. I have another question"
"Do ask"
"Why does this castle have light switches"
"I will show you."
Moza walked over to the light switch for the throne room and pointed at the roof.
"You see, we don't have what you call "electricity" here. We use magic to light our rooms up. You see, when I flick the switch..."
Moza flicked the light switch and a small light torch appeared on the roof."
"...a torch appears on the roof and lights up the room for us"
"I see..." Jack replied while rubbing his chin.
"Do you wish to ask anything else"
"Yes. Who is Stephanie"
"Ahh... I knew it was a matter of time until you asked that. Stephanie was the daughter of our previous king, so she lives in the castle. You could say you are her closest living relative"
"But I'm not her closest living relative"
"I said YOU COULD SAY, your majesty. I never suggested she was your stepdaughter in any way"
"Whatever. I'll attend that knight class"
"Good luck with that, sire!"
An hour later...
Jack sat in a classroom filled with knight hopefuls. Everyone stared at the blackboard which was on the wall in the front of the class. There was a desk beside the blackboard. There was also a nametag on the desk.
Mr. B. Smithy
After reading the tag, Smithy walked into the classroom and sat down at his desk.
"Good morning, students. Are ye ready to become knights?"
The room erupted with "Yes!" and "You bet!" around the whole room. Jack was the only one who didn't participate in the eardrum-rattling yelling and screaming. Smithy waved his hands up and down and the class remained silent.
"First of all we will do some woodwork. Everyone will get a block of wood and you will carve it into a wooden sword for training."
Smithy collected some wood, hammers and chisels from under his desk and made his way around the classroom handing out the blocks of wood, chisels and hammers, placing them on the student's desks. Jack eagerly grabbed his hammer and chisel.
"Ye may begin carving!" Smithy commanded.
The room then filled with the sound of hammering and chiseling. Jack began to carve the basic shape for the sword. He peered out the window beside him and saw a tree and the castle. After thinking that Stephanie wasn't going to ruin his day, he continued chiseling the wood. After a few minutes he had the blade ready and moved onto the hilt. Smithy gave everyone another larger block of wood to make a shield. When Jack was about to chisel the other block of wood, her heard a soft knock on the window. He looked at the window and saw Stephanie standing on one of the tree's branches in a bathrobe. Just when he thought she wouldn't appear, she came when he was in a class.
"Could you... make a sculpture of me?" Stephanie asked with a blush while trying to undo her bathrobe.
Jack quickly shut the curtain of the window and continued on his wooden sword. His heart was racing at what he just saw. If there wasn't a curtain to block his view of Stephanie, he would be embarrassed in public and possibly be the laughing stock of the town. He once again drifted into thought about why Stephanie was doing all this. Was it to get his attention? Does she want a relationship with him? He had no idea. After a while he had his wooden sword and shield. Smithy inspected everyone's swords and shields.
"Very good... Brilliant... Wonderful... Fantastic!" He complimented the class. "Ye all did well in making ye swords and shields. Now for ye combat training."
Smithy lead everyone outside into a field with straw dummies on stakes laid. Smithy ordered everyone to go to a dummy and hit it so he could see their techniques and know which one of the students need training the most. Jack was clueless so he just stabbed the dummy. Smithy walked over to Jack and showed him how to use the sword properly.
"Simple movements, me boy." Smithy commented.
"I see now..." Jack replied with a grin.
Three hours later...
Class was over, so Jack walked out of the school doors and headed up the familiar stone path. He looked around for Stephanie, but she was nowhere to be seen. Jack stood at the castle gates and continued thinking to himself.
'I wonder where that giant lumberjack went... and what happened to him...'
The ground then began to shake as loud footsteps were heard. Timber trudged up to Jack and knelt down in front of him.
"Don't kill me!" Screamed Jack like a girl.
"There, there." Timber sighed. "I ain't gonna hurt you"
"So you're not a murderous lumberjack"
"Not at all! If you ever need my help, call out for me. Name's Timber"
"Pleased to meet you! My name is Jack."
Timber nodded and stomped off into the woods as Jack quietly entered the castle. Jack was greeted my Moza inside the castle.
"Welcome back, your majesty!" Moza greeted Jack.
"Evening"
"Say, if you ever need me, contact me telepathically"
"How do I do that"
"I'll open my mind to you so when you open your mind, anything you say will be received in my head and vice versa"
"I see... Okay then."
Moza escorted Jack inside and into the food court. There everyone Moza and Jack knew (bar Stephanie) sat at a large table covered in food. That night was the night of the big feast. Jack ate happily since it was the second time he ate normal food in years. After Jack ate most of the food, he went up to his bedroom. He approached the door with caution and noticed the door was opened slightly. Jack pushed the door open slowly and saw Stephanie sleeping beside his bed on the floor, still in the same bathrobe. It was only a matter of time until she showed her face to Jack, awake or not. Jack sighed and dragged her out of the room, trying not to wake her up. After she was outside of the bedroom, Jack lay down in his bed and drifted off into sleep.
The next morning Jack got ready for class. That day he was going to study the ways and traits of a knight. When he woke up he didn't see high or low of Stephanie, to his relief. Jack got up out of his bed and tried to contact Moza.
"Moza, can you hear me?" He asked himself while opening his mind for outside thoughts.
-Loud and clear, your majesty-
"Have you seen Stephanie anywhere"
-No I haven't, sire. I'm sorry-
"I-I'm not looking for her. It's okay"
-Very well, your majesty.-
Moza cut off his telepathic link to Jack. Jack opened the door and saw Stephanie standing at his door.
"I've been waiting for you." She said with a sly look pasted on her face.
Jack closed the door as fast as he could and locked it. He sat down at the door and sighed to himself. He wanted to stay away from Stephanie as much as possible.
"Come on Jack..." Moaned Stephanie from outside the door. "I'll mess you up real good."
Jack shook in fear at what Stephanie just said. He had no idea what she meant, but it sounded bad to him. Then he heard a thud from outside the door and the moaning stopped. Jack stood up and opened the door. There he saw Stephanie on the floor with blood running from the back of her head. His shaking from Stephanie saying she would mess him up crept away only to be replaced by fear that she may be dead. He knelt down beside her, only to be hit on the back of the head with something blunt. Jack lost consciousness, last seeing a figure standing above him.
To be continued...