A/N: Just quickly, this chapter-and pretty much the rest of the entire story will be in 3rd person. I'm sorry for any confusion! Please enjoy and let me know what you think :).
Chapter 2-Hippies
The next morning rolls around slower than the girls had hoped. Tammy is the only one who had slept well, but then in Ash's strong opinion, Tam could have a herd of elephants walk over the top of her and she'd still be soundly asleep.
The red head had slept little, her cautiousness and protective instincts kicked in and she had stayed awake on watch for most of the night. She had watched in helplessness as the fair headed girl she considered a sister, a twin even, tossed and turned wildly in her sleep. Muttering words that were unintelligible.
Ash had held her hand and stroked her hair in attempts to calm her nightmares but it had only helped a little.
Lily had suffered from nightmares occasionally since her brother had been killed and her father had drunk himself to death. When the doctors had informed her that she was prone to depression Ash had attached herself to the younger girl like super glue, while Tam hovers over the pair of them and keeps them both out of trouble. Protecting her little, way ward sisters as best she can. There isn't even a very big gap between Ash and Lily, a couple of months is all Ash had on her but it is enough to have the older instincts to protect her.
That night had been one of the worst Ash had even seen Lily experience, though; the way she had held up her hands as if to shield herself from something had sickened her.
The dark has passed now and with it went the nightmares, for which she was thankful.
Groggily Ash shakes her friends awake and they blink at her with mild surprise.
"Ash?" Lily asks, pushing herself up. "What…oh."
"Did you sleep at all?" Tammy questions worriedly. "You have circles under your eyes."
She shrugs. "I think I got in a couple of hours early this morning. No biggy, I'll catch up on it when we're not in the middle of nowhere."
Tam sighs, once Ash has set her mind on something it is pointless to argue with her. The fire had long since gone out and the girls shiver in the early morning air, except Lily; she didn't seem to feel the cold. After shaking off the drowsiness, they made their way to their horses and saddles.
"Good morning, beautiful girl," Lily smiles as Bells trots to her while the boys continue grazing.
"You two have one freaky relationship," Ash grumbles as she smooths her hand over Arrow's neck lovingly, the stallion nickering at her then continues to shovel grass into his mouth.
"You're just jealous," Lily smirks and pokes out her tongue.
Tam chuckles as she rests her head in Bolt's mane and breaths in his scent; it calmed her and she needed that. Sensing her nerves the bay pushed his nose against her hip and blew out a deep breath of hot air.
"Holy bananas!" Ash shrieks and the other girls jerk their heads in her direction.
"What?" Lily asks.
"Look at this! Holy fricking hell and purple fish fingers!"
They hurry over to where she stands looking at their saddles with her mouth almost on the ground.
"….Wow." Tammy is the first to speak of the spectacle before them. Leaning up against each of their saddles are three swords, three bows, three quivers filled with arrows and three daggers.
"Where….where did they come from? Are those real?" Lily whispers, reaching for the set that is leaning against her saddle. She picks up the sword and un-sheaths it, admiring the shining new blade and noticing how well it fits into her hand. She jumps as it comes apart and makes two different blades.
"Sweet!" Ash cries, latching onto the set against her saddle and pulling it out to reveal a curved blade.
Tammy slowly picks up the last and pulls it out, a straight blade. She twists it around in her hand and allows a small smile.
"I can't believe this!" Ash squeals excitedly. They had all taken fencing lessons since a young age. It had been the place where Ash and Lily had first meet. "There exactly the type of swords we like! That is so cool!" She stopped and thought. "And also kinda creepy."
"Ya think?" Lily cries, looking around her nervously.
"It's okay," Tam sooths, now handling the bow. She had also taken archery and excels at it, much better than her two friends. She actually prefers the bow and arrows to the sword.
"Let's get out of here," Ash declares, tying the sword and dagger to her belt and the quiver to her back. Tam is the next to follow suite, tying the weapons to her body and begins saddling Bolt.
Lily is cautious as she slowly handles the deadly weapons, the blade shimmers in the light and the way the hilts fit so perfectly into her hand both excites and unnerves her.
"Lil, come on," Ash prompts. "It's okay, you're killer with the sword and a terrific throw. Nothing is going to hurt us, I promise." The red head approaches her and holds onto her shoulders, scarlet eyes burning into pale blue ones. "Don't be scared," she whispers.
Lily shakes her head, her almost white hair sways with the action. She breathes; Ash always could read her. Tammy can, too, but Ash sees more, sees past every block, reads her soul. And she never lies to her. The blonde lets go of her breath and attaches the weapons, Ash grins at her and squeezes her arms again. "That's my girl."
Lily chuckles and picks up her saddle and blanket. "Hells Bells, here girl." The mare trots obediently to her and allows herself to be saddled without having to be held.
By the time Lily puts the bit into the mare's mouth, her friends are already mounted and she is quick to do the same.
Ash leads the way again, while Tam rides beside her, staying only slightly behind. Lily sticks to the back, a foot or so behind them, and her friends kept glancing over their shoulders to check on her. They come to the edge of a large clearing and Ash halts Arrow while they are still in the cover of trees.
"Lil, stay closer. I get this feeling there's someone else," Tam mutters.
Her pale blue eyes widen a bit in surprise and she gently urges Bells up level with Arrow.
Ash smiles at her and reaches over to squeeze her hand. "Let's get out of this fricking forest. I've had more then enough of nature for one day."
Tam chuckles softly and Lily smiles. Even in a crisis, Ash will always be the same. The three urge their mounts forward and they sigh as they come out of the shade and into the sun. It is a clear day, bright with only a light breeze, but it is still far too cold to be spring like it had been yesterday morning.
They ride in silence, Tam keeping a careful eye on the edge of the forest and Ash keeps glancing at Lily who watches her surroundings in admiration rather then suspicion.
At the end of the clearing there appears to be a slope that rises up as a side of a hill. Ash grins. "Come on, race ya to the top!" She doesn't wait for the answer as she kicks the chestnut stallion and he lurches forward, eager to run. The others are quick to follow but it was well-known that Bells can outrun almost anything. The mare quickly glides past Arrow, mane and tail streaming out in the wind.
Lily laughs as Bells plants both front feet on the top on the hill first and rears up in triumph. "We win you slow pokes!" she giggles as Bells put all four hooves on the ground again. She stops short when she looks down the other side and gasps. Riding up the other side are seven men on horses, dressed in strange armour and carrying various sharp objects.
They are watching her, and coming straight for her.
Tam and Ash appear at her sides and stop their horses so fast they leave skid marks in the damp ground.
"What the fu..." Ash is cut off as the men urge their horses into a trot and make a half moon around them. The red head reaches for her sword and the one that looks like he might've been in change holds up a hand to stop her.
"We mean you no harm, Lady," he speaks. "We merely wish to see if you perhaps need any assistance."
Ash scrunches up her nose; they look dirty and several of them could easily be hippies.
"No. Thank you, but we're fine," Tammy replies kindly, and Lily backs Bells a little further away from them, her face twisted in shock.
"Is she alright?" the leader asks, gesturing to Lily.
Ash glances at her friend and frowns. She turns back and looks over the men again with accusing eyes. Lily must have seen something to scare her, otherwise she would have stayed where she was. She hears Tam muttering quietly to the fair-headed girl. Her eyes land on the taller of the two bald dudes and the dark-haired hippy and it clicked.
"Tam, look."
Tam turns to look at her and follows her line of sight. The big bald dude and the dark hippy both possess a resemblance to Lily's dead brother. If you put the two together it could have been Dean in front of them. And Lily is a very observant person.
"She'll be fine," Ash answers the man tightly. "Now if you don't mind, you can go away."
They look at her in surprise.
"Now, it's not safe for young ladies such as you to be out here alone. There are dangers in these woods," another one speaks with a smirk. He has black curly hair and a slight well kept beard. He wears armour, too, and has two swords strapped to his back. He gives off an air that screams cocky asshole in Ash's opinion.
"Ooo, scary," she replies sarcastically. "We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much."
"What my friend means to say," Tam interrupts and gives Ash a hard glare, "is thank you for your concern but we're alright."
The leader nods and the curly-headed one glares at Ash who smirks at him.
"I am Arthur and these are my knights: Lancelot" The cocky one. "Gawain." The light- haired hippy. "Tristan." The dark-haired hippy. "Galahad." The youngest one, with curly brown hair and a beard. "Bors." The shorter, massive- looking bald one. "And Dagonet." The tallest, massive bald one.
The knights blink at the young girl's stares. Even the fair-headed one has stopped her panicking to gape at them. The brunette one looks shocked and the red head stares.
"Arthur?" the red head repeats, testing his name on her tongue. "As in, Arthur and the knights of the round table Arthur?"
The legendary knight senses a bit of mockery in her voice, but he nods in reply.
There is silence for a moment before the red head scoffs; the brunette shakes her head, and the youngest one looks skywards and lets out a shaky sigh.
"Yeah right," the red head snorts. "And I'm the queen of Sheba. Let's get out of here."
The other girls nod and are quick to turn around their mounts.
"Wait. This is woad territory!" Galahad protests.
"Stay away from the sharp ends and enjoy your dress up game, boys. Run along home now. Your mummies' will be wondering where you've wandered off to." The red head calls back over her shoulder with a smirk and a roll of her strange eyes.
"Hippy freaks," she mutters under her breath as they ride away, down the other side of the hill. "Arthur and his knights. Do we have suckers stamped to our foreheads? Huh? What a load of bullshit."
Tam shakes her head again and casts a worried glance at Lily. Even after two years, the subject of her brother is still extremely touchy. Not that anyone can blame her; they had been very close and the events after his death had traumatised her.
Ash follows her line of sight and clamps her mouth shut; her adopted sister had turned a lighter shade of pale. "Lily?" Ash whispers and smiles lightly when her friend's pale eyes reach her own. "C'mon. It's okay."
"I…they…its…I..." she stumbles, as she tries to find the words to explain whatever it is.
Ash glances quickly back up the hill when they had reached the bottom and gone a short distance. The mental house escapees are still there, much to her annoyance.
"What?" Tam asks. "Deep breaths, Lil."
Lily huffs and brushes her hair out of her face. "I'm not a nutter, Tammy. It's just, last night….I saw them, in my dream, their faces. I thought it must have been Dean and some of his army friends….but, they…"
Ash snaps her head up at the mention of dreams. "You were dreaming last night. You wouldn't stay still. I thought they were nightmares."
Lily looks at her and tilts her head to the side, her silky locks falling gracefully over her cheek. "I…don't remember. I just saw their faces flash in my head…for maybe a second each, that's all I remember of last night."
"It's okay. You never remember your nightmares," Tam reasons.
"Thank the heavens for that," Ash murmurs, sending a fleeting look of pity to Lily, who is too busy twisting her fingers in Bells' mane to catch it. Luckily for Ash, she hates the pity and only accepts comforting from Ash or Tam. She can be as hard as her red headed companion if she chose.
Suddenly an arrow flies through the air and past Tam's head, missing it by centimetres. The girls' eyes snap up and scan the trees, just as more arrows are fired. Tam loads her bow as Ash and Lily grab their swords and swing themselves from the saddles. Almost immediately, blue-painted people burst from the woods.
The clang of blades echoes loudly in Lily's ears as it occurs to her what she is doing. Blocking another swing of the blue person's blade, she brings up her own across his throat in one swift motion and her opponent falls.
A/N: Well there you go, chapter 2 done and dusted =). Pretty please review and let me know what you thought, what's right what's wrong etc. I can't get better if you don't point me towards the problems =).
Thank you so much to everyone who read-reviewed-alerted-favourite-ed, it does really mean a lot to me.
Also, super thank you's to Kanae Valentine, who does a magnificently brilliant job and Affoler la Reine for her very helpful advise. Merci =).
Til next time,
~Angel