Author's note: part of this chapter was actually supposed to be part of the last one, but I got lazy. This one will be taking a few artistic liberties when Walter and the princess journey back to Bowerstone. Anyway, good times ahead, much merriment and drinking, at least on the soldiers part, poor Yvette is too much of a lightweight to even compete with them...Any how thank you again to all my reviewers, I hope you all enjoy!
It was nearly noon by the time all of the wounded soldiers were patched up, and their injuries taken care of. The soldiers that could, sat around drinking with one another in celebration, some already pleasantly drunk.
Walter laughed heartedly at something one of the men said before taking a large gulp from the foaming mug before him.
Yvette sipped at the stale tasting alcohol, quickly deciding she liked wine, or even fresh ale much more than the skunky stuff provided at the fort. She sat the mug back down, knowing that there was no way she could finish it; rolling her tongue around her mouth, she tried to cleanse it of the bitter tasting liquid. She felt the bench beside her ground and buckle slightly under the strain of an added weight and she turned to see Ben taking a seat beside her, another full mug of ale in his hand.
He gave her a lopsided smirk and took a swig from his mug.
"Your first time drinking, princess?" he asked jokingly, glancing at her half finished mug, out of the corner of his eye.
"No...I've had wine at dinner, and occasionally a pint with Walter down at the pub when I was able to sneak away from the castle...Of coarse, those few times with Walter resulted in me being carried back to the castle acting very silly and foolish after only one or two pints...I fear my good sir, that I am a lightweight." she said with a sheepish smile.
Ben laughed at this.
"That and I fear your ale is awfully stale, and I don't much care for it." she added, pushing the mug away from her a little further.
"You get used to it." he replied, taking another gulp; Yvette wrinkled her nose at him.
"I doubt it, I think I'll stick to wine at dinner or water...or at least fresh ale" she said, Ben shrugged but continued to smile contentedly.
She sighed and turned around in her seat, nearly hitting Ambrose who lay at her feet.
"Sorry boy." she said, leaning down and scratching his ears, but he hadn't seemed to have noticed his close call with her booted foot.
Suddenly she felt a large hand rest upon her shoulder and she looked over to see Walter giving her a somewhat solemn look.
"We should get moving soon, we don't want to waste too much time." he said while standing up and rolling his shoulders.
She sighed again, wishing for a goodnights sleep, one that wasn't interrupted by hordes of Hollow men.
"Sure thing." she said standing up as well, dusting off her skirt and leggings. "Don't you want to say goodbye to Major Swift?" she asked as she watched as the old soldier began to walk towards the gates, and she hurried after him.
"Ah, we'll be seeing him soon enough; he and his men won't be far behind us, they're going to the same place we are." Walter replied, looking down to her as they passed through the gates.
Yvette was about to open her mouth to spout out another question when she was interrupted by a certain blonde soldier.
"Hey you old goat! Wait up!"
The two turned to see Ben walking up to them in a hurried stride, securing his rifle which was slung over his back.
"I'm coming with you!" he said with a cheeky grin.
"You're what?" Walter said in surprise.
Yvette couldn't tell if her mentor was dismayed at this idea or applauded it.
"And why the bloody hell would you be doing that?" Walter continued, crossing his arms across his wide chest, brow furrowed.
"We I figured you guys could use some extra muscle...and beside." he said glancing at Yvette momentarily, causing her to squirm a bit under his piercing gaze. "What princess couldn't use the help of a dashing scoundrel?"
"I can take care of myself you know." she told him, placing a hand on her hip with a huff. Why did everyone assume she needed to be babysat?
Walter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So, you're coming with us?" he asked looking back to the soldier.
"No use in trying to get rid of me." was the reply, accompanied by a wide smirk,and wink in the princess' direction, Ben knew he had won.
"Just bloody marvelous, now I get to babysit you." Walter said trying to sound as though it was the worst thing in his life to be traveling with the man, but he began to chuckle and shook his head as he turned back around. "Just be keep'n your hands to yourself Finn, I know how you are with the ladies, when you get ale in ya." he added as he continued out of the gates.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Ben called back, before following after him.
Yvette stood rooted to the spot for a moment, watching the two men walk on; her gaze slowly fell to Ben's backside. She quickly diverted her eyes, feeling her face heat up, and she chided herself for her starring. "What in Avo's name is wrong with me?" she thought as she began to follow after the two soldiers; Ambrose trotting along side her.
"I am a woman after all...right boy?" she said softly to her furry companion, who looked up at her curiously.
As she looked back up to the blonde soldier, she felt her stomach do a small flip-flop and she sighed in annoyance; once again she thought of Elliot, and the first time she had felt the same feeling for him.
Glancing back up, she glared at the back of Ben's head; curse him, and curse her silly feelings.
Mourningwood was the same as it had been the first time she had set foot in it, soggy and smelly; groaning she trudged though the muddy earth, trying her best to keep up with the rest.
"Walter, isn't there a simpler path?" she asked, though it sounded more like a whine than a question.
"Cutting through the swampland is our fastest way back to the Bowerstone sewers." he replied, looking back down to map, causing Yvette to become fearful that they were lost again.
"I still don't see why you're using a map; you could practically follow the stench and muck all the way there without too much of a problem." Ben added with a chortle, Walter laughed.
Yvette grumbled to herself and did her best to pick up the pace, cursing as her boots suctioned into the muddy earth.
"...Bloody hell, this damn mud..." she muttered.
"My, my! We certainly do have the mouth, don't we princess?" she heard Ben say ahead of her.
"Shut up Ben." she hissed, forcefully pulling herself from the mud.
"Just carrying on a friendly conversation." he called back, she could tell that he was grinning.
"Bullocks..." she said, though quiet enough so that he could not hear.
Ambrose barked at her side and she looked over just as he bolted off towards a rabbit that had scurried off into a bush.
"Oh, let it alone Ambrose, you're scarring the poor thing!" she called after him.
"You know how he is, chases everything that moves, must be why he chases his tail so much." Walter said back to her, as he struggled to push a vine out of his way.
"I suppose..." she said with a sigh, and continued to struggle along after to two soldiers.
A few moments later she heard a rustling in the underbrush to her right and she turned just as the rabbit Ambrose had been chasing jumped out from the hedge and darted out in front of her and into the brush across the way. Moments later Ambrose bolted out in pursuit, taking the same path the rabbit had taken, however he was much larger than the creature.
Before Yvette could react, the hound ran into her shins, and she began to fall forwards as Ambrose continued the chase. She tried to lift her leg to stop herself from falling but found her boot was once again suctioned in the mud;...after that everything seemed to go in slow motion.
As she fell she reached out to anything that she could to stop herself, she found purchase on the back of Ben's trousers, but it was too little to late and her hand slid down the back of his leg and she fell face first into the muck.
Ben watched out of the corner of his eye as the royalties dog chased after a frighten rabbit in the brush, and chuckled to himself. Dogs would be dogs, no matter if they were noble dogs or peasant dogs.
A while later more rustling interrupted the forests stillness, and he assumed that the dog was still absorbed in the chase, but paid it really no heed as he continued to follow after Walter.
From behind him he heard Yvette make a sound of surprise and what sound like the hounds name; as he went to turn he felt a shove from behind and a hand on his backside. He grinned wickedly, the only person behind him was the princess. As he went to open his mouth and comment on the well placed hand he felt it slip down to the back of his thigh, to his calf to were he felt her take a firm hold around his ankle.
Instead of a smart, flirtatious comment coming out of his mouth a surprised garble took its place as she held his leg fast, rooting it to the spot. There was little he could do as he too fell forward, face first into the mud as well.
Walter stopped in his tracks as he heard two loud 'splats' from behind him, and he slowly turned, ready to yell at Ben for any Shenanigans he was starting. However when he turned around, he saw something rather unexpected, and it made him pause for a moment before he roared in laughter.
The first thing Yvette saw when she looked up was the muddy heel of Ben's shoe she paused for a moment, curious, and it dawned on her when she saw her hand on his ankle that she had dragged him down into the mud with her.
She could hear Walter laughing as she quickly let go of Ben's ankle, and the blonde soldier began to pull himself from his unexpected mud bath.
"You two are out of my sight for two seconds and look at the mess you've gotten into!" Walter said through his fits of laugher.
"Oh, shut it." Ben muttered as he dragged himself to his knees, trying to use his equally dirty hand to wipe the mud from his face.
The princess sat up rather embarrassed and flung her arms out and flapped them as though she were trying to fly away in an attempt to remove the muck from her clothing.
Ben quickly stumbled to his feet, glancing down at the rest of himself, he could hear Walter's laughter grow once more. He let out an exasperated huff before turning around to see the princess still sitting upon the ground, trying to rub the mud from her face on the back of a dirty sleeve. He extended his hand to her.
"You know if you wanted to get down and dirty with me, you only had to ask." he had smiling at her cheekily as she took his hand.
As she stood before him she could only imagine that she looked like a fish out of water, as her mouth opened and closed, and open and closed.
"At a loss for words, I know I sometimes have that effect on beautiful ladies." he added.
From behind Ben, Yvette could see Walter pinching the bridget of his nose and shaking his head. Finally she found her voice, her face burning as she spoke.
"I think you might need a good dunk in the Bowerstone river! Not only to wash the mud off, but to clear you head!" she sputtered and began to once again trudge through the mud. "And to think I thought you were charming..." she muttered.
Ben turned abruptly when he heard her say the latter.
"You think I'm charming do you?" he asked, a smug smile growing on his face as he watched her stomp past Walter.
"Watch yourself Finn." Walter warned.
Before Ben had the chance to reply, Yvette called back to them impatiently.
"Come on, we're wasting time just standing around."
"Alright, Alright!" Walter called back with a chuckle, beginning to follow after her. "Never were in this much of a hurry before..."
Ben looked down to his side where Ambrose had joined him moments before, equally as mud covered as himself and the princess,
"Well come on boy, time to get moving." he said down to the hound, who wagged his tail happily at the attention.
Slowly Ben followed after Walter and the princess, all the while trying to rid his clothes the best he could of the mud.