Ooook chapter three! There's a particular scene where Axel comes across some mischievous little critters which I have added in an attempt to make the chapter longer and more interesting, but I'm not sure if I like it. After much um-ing and arr-ing I decided to give I a try, see what you guys think and let me know whether to take it out or not : / ok, I hope you enjoy ^_^

Chapter Three – A Knight of Many Tales

Meanwhile, a few miles away from Roxas' home, a knight was travelling through a wood on horseback. The woods themselves were almost as dark as the knight's steeds' coat, save a few strips of sun light through the tops of the trees whose trunks were large and thick, indicating the age of the woods themselves. Their roots were large enough to protrude out from the ground, tearing open the surrounding soil as well as a maze of pathways which lead deeper into the trees, all of which were lined with over grown shrubs. The knight had cut through in hopes of finding a shortcut to the nearest village, despite its dreary appearance. He has been travelling for a very long time, and both he and his horse were in much need of rest. He suspected that his horse required treatment for his hooves, as the poor thing had started to walk with a slight limp. They were bound to need clearing of dirt and debris after the grounds that they had covered, which intensified his impatience to find somewhere decent to rest as soon as possible.

People he had met along the road had warned him against travelling through these particular woods, as local belief told of faerie folk who resided within, who often played tricks on weary travellers, forever trapping them within the endless maze of paths and trees, dooming them to endlessly wander the woods, never to leave again. The knight had scoffed at their "unrealistic superstitions" and had taken to the woods anyway. If he had continued to travel along the road, it would have taken him three days to get to the next village, and he simply could not wait. His food rations were now very meagre. Although looking around his current surroundings the knight was starting to wonder whether they had been right. No matter which way he turned his surrounding never seemed to change; it was almost as if he was riding round in one big circle. "Hmm, perhaps we should have taken their warnings into serious consideration, huh?" he said to his horse, awkwardly running his had through his own very spiky red hair. His horse merely snorted in response and carried on walking.

Eventually the soft sound of trickling water came to his ears. Suddenly his throat tightened dryly, and he realised how thirsty he was. He travelled on, in hopes that he'd come to the source of said water. The further he went, the louder the sound of running water became. Shortly afterwards, the knight could hear a sound which could only be described as bubbling laughter. He chose to ignore that; right now he needed a drink. Thankfully, he came to a small lake. The knight stiffly dismounted his horse and walked it to the waters edge, where it drank heavily. He too cupped his hands and drank, enjoying the wonderful thirst quenching sensation of the cool water on his lips. It was then that he heard the bubbling laughter again. "Drink all you like, handsome stranger, although I think that you'll find yourself thirsting for something much more satisfying very soon" the voice said seductively, followed by a chorus of the strange bubbling laughter. The knight looked up from where he was kneeling. Right in the middle of the river stood three very beautiful women. Their long wavy hair rippled all the way down their backs to their feet. They were garbed in long white pleated dresses, which flowed all around them. They almost looked as one would underwater, apart from the fact that they were out in the open air. The water rippled around their dainty feet, although they never sank. Was it a mere illusion and they were simply standing on a slightly submerged section of land? Or were they water sprites with the ability of standing on water as one would on solid ground? The knight snorted to himself; 'water sprites. How ridiculous'. The women were still looking at him, their almond shape eyes staring into his seductively. The knight raised an eyebrow. What did they assume he would do? Walk towards them with lust filled eyes and subconsciously drown himself whilst he strove to meet the creatures of his desire? Perhaps these three women were one reason why people supposedly never came out of these woods. He wondered just how many unfortunate men had lost their lives in this very lake.

Yet, in all their mysterious beauty, the knight merely lead his horse away and remounted, giving the women a two fingered salute and commanding his horse to trot on, stating that beautiful women weren't his thing, but he was flattered all the same. On hearing these words, the women's appearance suddenly changed. Their eyes narrowed in severe anger, their facial features became more chiselled and their teeth lengthened, becoming as sharp as needle points. Their peach coloured skin faded to give their complexion a more greenish tinge. Folds of skin grew between their fingers and toes, giving them an almost amphibious appearance. Their once beautiful and alluring eyes turned yellow, wide and savage. The creatures screeched and hissed at the knight, having never before been refused a soul to feast upon. At first the knight's eyes widened in utter shock. Obviously there were such things as water sprites. Before he could react further, the water creatures let out another mighty skin crawling screech, and came rushing forward on forebodingly sized waves of lake water. The knight drew his sword in preparation for the attack, his horse rearing up in fright. But to his surprise, the creatures stopped at the edge of the river. Clearly they could not leave the waters edge. He commanded his horse to turn and canter, as the sprites tried to capture him in thick rope like streams of water, in order to drag him back down to the lake and drown him. In a burst of intense fear the knights' steed screeched, adrenalin pumping through its' blood enabling it to summon the strength needed to speed away, just managing to slip away from the grasp of the homicidal creatures; he and his rider escaping completely unscathed – if not a little wet, leaving the water sprites to howl with rage.

Despite everything, the knight couldn't help but chuckle as he tried to remove the remaining water from his hair. "Well, that was certainly interesting" he mused. His horse snorted and shook its head, almost as if disagreeing with its master, thinking him to be mad for saying such a thing. "I just hope that my chain mail doesn't rust" the knight chuckled.

From then on, the knight came across some very colourful characters. He started to wonder whether the forest had some sort of psychic energy, as he always seemed to find trouble with one woodland resident or another, depending on what he had really wanted at the time. Such an example would be when the weariness of his journey caught up with him. His eyelids began to feel quite heavy, and he found himself longing for a comfortable sleep, a proper bed where he could lay his head to rest on a soft fluffy pillow. In the corner of his eye he saw what he believed at fist to be a fire fly. Was it really night time outside of the woods already? Or was it simply too dark amongst the trees that they didn't know the difference? As he stared, he found that one fire fly became two, then three, before he knew it there was a whole swarm in front of him, except these particular fire flies had tiny voices, which giggled in a mischievous mocking manner as they buzzed round his head. The knights' horse grunted and tossed its head nervously, but the knight found himself mesmerised by them. One of them came closer, and upon further inspection - having to cross his eyes a little - he could see that they were in fact tiny male fairies, their bodies blurred with light; however he could still see the outlines of their bodies and their faces. The one closest to him blew what appeared to be dust from its hand, the particles finding their way to the knights' eyes. Instead of feeling vexed by this, he found himself laughing quite giddily, his horse feeling more wiser tried to trot on ahead to escape the little pests, but they would not be ignored and caught up quickly. The knight however was beginning to feel quite light, as if he were floating into a warm, comfy place, almost as if his soul was leaving his body. A strong euphoria flowed through him, and he was only vaguely aware of who he was and where he was going. The tiny fairies softly kissed his lips with their tiny mouths, gently caressing his face and whispering words of comfort; 'come, we shall ease the weariness of your aching limbs'. One minute he was floating, feeling all of his wariness and worries flow away from him, carried away by some beautiful young fairy folk - the next he was upside down in a bush, his armour and his shirt scattered around him with his horse nudging and biting him trying to wake him up from his giggling stupor. He awoke feeling quite groggy, with no idea why his top half was naked, nor why his horse was particularly grumpy.

Another occasion occurred-once he was once again fully dressed as any self respecting travelling knight would be- when he started to feel very hungry. His rations were long used up, and he had seen no wildlife to hunt, or berries to pick on any of the shrubs that he passed. His horse was content grazing upon the grass whenever the knight stopped for natural causes, or to ease his stiff legs. "It's alright for some" he muttered to his horse, feeling quite vexed. "Food is practically everywhere for you". On this occasion he had stumbled upon a very small creature which kind of resembled a man, except that his skin had a strange brownish yellow complexion and his ears were pointy. His hair was short and brown, completely covering half of his face, revealing only one golden eye, which glinted mischievously. "Oh weary traveller, I sense your needs. I shall give you some food in exchange for gold." And saying this, he pulled out what appeared to be a freshly baked bread bun from a brown woollen bag that he had with him. The knight felt his mouth water, as the delicious aroma of the bread seemed to become stronger. Ignoring the little voice in his head which told him that the imp was clearly up to mischief, he took a gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the little man, who giggled with glee. As the knight began to eat, he realised that the bread was very light, and upon finishing it hadn't satisfied his hunger at all. He looked confused for a second, staring blankly in front of him, before he looked down and noticed a little man standing in front of him. Had he been there before? The knight wasn't quite sure.

"I sense your needs, Sir Knight, you are weary from hunger. Here, take some of my bread, all it will cost you is one gold coin". Feeling his mouth water, the knight complied with the imp's request. The little man laughed cutely, as if he found the sight of the knight eating most humorous. Said knight looked confused again. His hunger didn't seem to be the least bit satisfied. He stared blankly for a while, as if trying to remember something important. Deciding that his memory had eluded him, he turned to walk back to his horse, only to bump into a small man with pointy ears. "I sense your needs, Sir Knight – "he began; wait, this was sounding all too familiar, wasn't it?

"I wouldn't give him any more gold if I were you" a female voice said. "Pretty soon you'll have nothing left; that is his intention "

"Huh?" The knight turned to see a young woman standing next to a large oak tree. She wore a long black skirt with a slit up the right hand side. Her shirt was also black, but the sleeves were long, similar to that of a geisha. Her hair was short and blond, but two bangs hung at each side of her face, almost looking like the antennas of an ant. The woman walked towards him almost suavely. The imp gave a small shriek and tried to run, but as quick as lightning the woman grabbed him by the back of his earthy jacket. "Give me the gold" she demanded almost wearily, as if she was tiresome of dealing with imps. "I don't know what you mean!" the imp snapped, trying to wriggle free. He managed to slip his jacket, but before he could make another bid for freedom, the woman grabbed him by the arm then tipped him upside down, holding onto his foot, shaking him. The imp shrieked again, and demanded to be released; trying to kick and hit her with his free leg and little fists, but to no avail.

"Never believe the words of an imp. They have an uncanny ability to make you forget all logic and they can manipulate the mind in order to make you fall for their trickery. You weren't actually eating anything, just air. His powers of illusion made you see and smell bread."

'Well' thought the knight. 'That certainly explains a lot'. He had never been this foolish before in his life, these woods really must have been cursed. The woman kept a firm hand and the imp, who was still wriggling in a desperate attempt to break free as she bent down to pick up his jacket. "Don't you dare! That's mine! Unhand me you miserable witch!" the imp cried. The woman ignored his protests, smacking him to the floor as punishment for his outburst. The little imp cried out in pain, but the woman merely smirked as if his pain pleased her. The knight was beginning to think he should forget about the gold and carry on with his journey. He didn't like this woman either. Her actions- even her very aura screamed sadism. "Um, I thank you for revealing the truth to me, but you really mustn't trouble yourself any further. Forget about the gold, I'll just be on my way, and this time, I won't stop for anything." He turned and was about to walk away when he heard a chink of coins and a soft thump. The woman had shaken the jacket upside down along with its owner. A small pile of coins fell to the ground, along with a small book bearing a strange symbol on the cover, along with a random assortment of items, including a piece of string, some rocks and an acorn or two. She picked up the coins and the book and slung the imp into the bushes, who's startled slightly enraged scream was silenced by a sickening thudding noise. The knight winced slightly, wondering if the creature was still in one piece. "Here Sir Knight, your gold, along with some extra for your trouble; clearly you weren't his first victim." She put the coins into his hand, gently holding it for a seemingly long time, her teal eyes constantly locked onto his emerald green ones. The knight cleared his throat nervously. "Um, well, yes. Thank you for your help. I-I'll just be on my way." Remounting his horse, he wondered whether he should inquire as the how he could get out of the forest without encountering further trouble, but he wasn't sure whether she would give him an honest answer. He didn't like the way she was currently looking at him. Still, he has been wandering around for a very long time now, and he didn't seem to be getting anywhere on his own.

"Um, forgive me for the inconvenience madam, but might I enquire as to how I should get out of this forest?"

"Consider it not an inconvenience, Sir Knight" the woman said, eyes twinkling. "It would be best to take the path straight between those oak trees" she pointed up ahead of them. For a brief moment the trees she had pointed to rustled, almost looking as though they had leaned backwards slightly in order to make more room for the knight to travel through. "Here, take this, and the forest's magic will have no effect on you". She handed him what appeared to be a flat brown stone with a zigzag pattern on one side. The knight raised an eyebrow confused and sceptical.

"Do not worry, knight, it is an amulet. It clears the mind and nullifies distractive magic." Despite his uncertainty, the knight thought it best to keep the amulet out of politeness. After all, despite her unnerving behaviour, she had helped him.

"Thank you, madam. I shall keep it close". He smiled as sincerely as he could at her and re-mounted his horse. "Please call me Larxene" the woman smiled. "And may I enquire as to your name, Sir Knight?" Thinking that he wouldn't come back to this forest again, the knight decided to tell her. He was now too weary to care about being cautious anyway. "My name is Axel" he replied.

"Well, Sir Axel, perhaps you would care for some real food?" Larxene asked with a sly smirk, taking a fruit bun out of a kerchief in her pocket. Axel looked at her wearily for a moment, but she merely laughed. "Fear not, I assure you, it's quite real. I made it myself." Axel took it from her, his stomach rumbling. It certainly felt real, and there was weight to this one. He took a bite out of it, and could actually taste it, and when he swallowed he didn't feel empty. If anything, it made him crave more. He then realised just how hungry he was. Larxene chuckled. "Here, have the other two, I can eat later. Have my water flask, too." Axel had never tasted something so wonderful in all his life, or so it seemed at this moment. How long had it actually been since he last ate? How long had he been trapped in this forest?

"Thank you again, for your kindness, um, Larxene. Here, take something for the food, I insist!" He handed her a gold coin, noticing how she took time to brush her fingers across his. Axel pulled his hand away quicker then he thought politely necessary, and worried that he'd offended the woman, he smiled as brightly as one could whilst felling awkward. Axel turned his horse and commanded it to trot on, keeping the stone amulet in a coin purse at his waist, where he had also placed his remaining coins. He had only travelled a short distance when he heard the imp again. He'd obviously regained consciousness and had run back to claim his belongings, but the knight turned just in time to see Larxene strike him down with a bolt of lightning she had formed in her hands; Axels' eyes widened in shock. So she was a witch, and a cruel one at that; that would explain why she was able to roam the woods without falling victim to its supernatural inhabitants' mischief. He looked away and commanded his horse to canter. The further away he was from these woods, the better.