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Chapter Six

"Get down."

James folded his legs almost immediately, allowing Sparrow to shove him to the ground behind the boulder. The bandits still hadn't spotted them but if Sparrow hadn't pulled him back – James decided it was best not to think about it. Instead he descended into a worried sulk. Really, it was bad enough being saved by Sparrow once. Twice was just too much.

There was an odd, muffled sound from above him and James looked up. Sparrow was a wielding a small, battered looking pistol, his gaze still locked on the bandits. His eyes flicked from one to another, calculating, plotting. James would never have admitted it, but seeing that look on Sparrow's face, no matter how frightening it was, did comfort him a little. At least Sparrow knew what he was doing out here.

"Don't move." Sparrow suddenly hissed at him and before James could reply he whipped out from behind the boulder, took aim and started shooting. James shied away from the thunderous cracks, covering his ears though it did little to protect them. Even over the sound of the exploding gunpowder he could hear the bandits bellowing as they recovered from Sparrow's surprise attack, rallying to strike back.

Sparrow ducked back behind the rock just as the bandits fired off a volley of shots. Their guns sounded louder, more like blunderbusses and rifles than the little pistol Sparrow had. James chewed on his lower lip nervously as Sparrow reloaded. Once he was done, he leaned out, fired a few times, and then leaned back again. "They're comin' down." He said, glancing at James out of the corner of his eye. "Try to stay outta the way, will yeh?"

James couldn't even bring himself to be annoyed at Sparrow's tone of voice. He was already scrambling for the bushes near the boulder. He heard Sparrow give a strained little laugh before lunging to his feet and drawing his sword, the metal hissing out of the sheath. James heard the bandits jeering as the flooded into the clearing at the bottom of the cliff. From where he sat, James could see around the boulder and watched as Sparrow swaggered out towards them, Pumpkin at his side. The bandits spread out in an arc in front of him, each one occasionally making false lunges. James shivered in terror at the sheer number of them. There must have been over a dozen.

A small smirk graced Sparrow's lips but it was different to his usual sly grin. His eyes were still cold and cunning; his expression was nothing but a trap. He placed one foot forward slightly and spread his arms, leaning in towards the bandits.

"Come an' have a go, if yeh think yer hard enough."

The effect was immediate. Like childish little boys the bandits roared and dashed forwards. Of course they would. Their pride was at stake. One man, faster than the others, raced towards Sparrow, his sword raised high above his head to strike.

Faster than James would have thought possible, Sparrow whipped to the side, slashing the bandit across the stomach. The man lurched to a stop, spluttered up a little blood and dropped to his knees. He glanced down at the gaping wound in his belly then slumped forward onto the ground. James jerked back, his teeth bared in disgust and horror.

The rest of the bandits lurched to a halt, but only for a moment and when they recovered they were angrier than ever.

"What the 'ell am I supposed to tell 'is wife and kids, eh?" One snarled, edging closer to Sparrow, and raising his blade threateningly. Sparrow only shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. Yeh not gonna get the chance to tell them anythin'."

After that it was all a bit of a blur to James. The bandits swarmed over Sparrow, blades flashing in Rookridge's perpetual half light, the sound of metal clashing against metal ringing out in the otherwise silent air. James watched fearfully from his relative safety behind the rocks and bushes. He couldn't see Sparrow anymore. He was completely surrounded by bandits. He felt a stab of worry but honestly could decide whether it was for Sparrow's safety or his own.

Amidst the confusion, bandits started to fall. Cries of pain were mixed in with the clashes of swords and James noted that not all of them were from the bandits.

An ethereal noise suddenly echoed around the cliffs. It crackled and hissed and the bandits recoiled somewhat, pausing in their attacks long enough for James to realise that the sound was coming from Sparrow. He held between his hands a globe of pure blue light that sparked and warped, staring at it with sheer concentration on his face. Just as the first bandit recovered and raised his sword again, Sparrow slammed the ball of light down into the ground.

There was a hollow boom and James flinched back as a barely visible force exploded outwards. It struck the bandits, sending them flying backwards. Pumpkin dived on one, ripping his throat out in seconds. Sparrow grabbed his pistol once more, took aim and fired.

Nine shots, one for each man. He shot them dead before they had a chance to get back to their feet. James shrank back behind the boulder, trembling and closed his eyes. Sparrow still had that blank, icy look in his eye.

"Yeh can come out now." Sparrow said after a moment. James hesitated then got up, deciding it was better to go to Sparrow than have Sparrow come to him. He edged around the boulder and out into the clearing, glancing up at the cliff warily. "Don't worry." Sparrow said, catching the look. "There's none left."

"Is that supposed to be comforting?" James murmured weakly. "The bandits might be dead but I'm still here alone with the man who killed them all." He gave Sparrow a once over and winced involuntarily. "Are you- are you hurt?"

Sparrow glanced down at himself with vague curiosity. He was covered in bruises, cuts and thick red welts. He shifted his weight and grimaced.

"Aye, but it's nowt a potion won't fix..." He rummaged around in a small pack hanging off his belt and produced a small pot. He popped it open and drank most of it. He dipped his fingers into what was left and smeared it over the worse scratches. "Should be fine now." He said then gestured at James. "D'yeh need one?"

James shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine. Shall we... shall we go now?"

Sparrow's smile returned, but this time it wasn't the cold, hollow version James had witnessed a moment ago. He was back to normal apparently and James was rather disturbed to find he was relieved by that. "Oh, so now we're travellin' together?"

"Apparently so." James muttered, scowling and crossing his arms across his chest. "But once we get to Oakfield we go our separate ways."

"Fine by me." Sparrow replied, shrugging. "Come on." He set off up the road again, limping slightly. With each step he took he rolled his foot, soothing the pain in his ankle until he could walk normally again. James hesitated by the boulder a moment longer, rubbing his face before he followed.

It turned out to be just as well James had tagged along with Sparrow. Along the cliff side path they encountered more, smaller groups of bandits but in such small bands of three or four Sparrow dealt with them easily. He even went out of his way to catch the ones that made it past him to go after James. James grudgingly gave him some brownie points for that.

At one point, James and Sparrow had crouched at the top of a hill and Sparrow had shot the three bandits below without them ever realising they were there. James giggled softly at the way they ran around panicking before slapping a hand over his mouth guiltily.

"It's not funny." He lamented in frustration as they made their way down the hill. It just made Sparrow laugh harder. "They're dead!"

"Yeah, so?" Sparrow shot back, kicking one of the dead bandits in the ribs. "Better him than us, I reckon."

"We still shouldn't laugh..." James muttered, folding his arms and looking anywhere but at the dead bandits.

Sparrow slunk around in front of him and grinned. "But you laughed first."

James's eyes widened. "I- I wasn't laughing at that!" He protested but Sparrow just continued to leer at him smugly until he threw his hands up in aggravation. "I give up. You are impossible." He stomped around Sparrow and continued on towards the bridge.

"I know yeh secretly like me." Sparrow practically sang, jogging after James.

"Yes, you make a wonderful bodyguard." James replied. "But that's as far as it goes. You are an insufferable, unbearable, excruciatingly irritating person and... and..."

"And what?" Sparrow called back as he rounded the corner but James didn't reply. He was too busy staring at the destroyed bridge, or rather, at the very high drop to the sea below. He didn't even look up when Sparrow padded up and stopped beside him, leaning forward to peer out over the edge. "Bloody hell, tha's a long way down, innit?" He said casually.

"I don't like heights..." James murmured in reply, before taking a few very careful steps backwards, away from the bridge. Sparrow glanced back at him, then across the bridge.

"A'right?" He called, waving one hand casually at the bandits on the other side. James jumped, startled, not realising there had been people on the other side. "I'm guessin' yer the ones who did this?"

"Aye, you betcha we did." One bandit with a raspy voice said, sounding extremely proud of this. "Guess you'll just hafta go back the way you came."

"Or you can jump." A second bandit, this one with a deeper voice added and he and Raspy started laughing.

"That's right, jump!" Raspy yelled, grinning at Boomer who quickly caught on. "Jump, jump, jump!"

"Dive!"

James deadpanned and Sparrow raised one eyebrow quizzically at the third bandit as Raspy and Boomer rounded on their companion. "Sorry!" The stupid bandit said quickly.

"You always hafta be different." Raspy muttered, displeased.

Sparrow turned his back on the bandits to face James. "Ladies first." He said, gesturing at the broken bridge. James just stared at him, horrified.

"I'm not jumping off there." He snapped immediately, his fear of heights overriding the 'lady' comment entirely. "I... I'll just go home. It's not that important anyway. I can just come back another day." He smiled weakly and took another step back. "So... it was very nice seeing you again – probably – but I really must be going so –"

Sparrow grabbed James's wrist and tugged him closer before he could escape. "Oi. I just risked my neck for you so if yeh think I'm lettin' yeh bugger off back to Bowerstone, yer mistaken."

"Hey, what's the matter? You afraid of heights?" Raspy taunted.

"Chicken, chicken!" Daft jeered.

"How old are you, eight?" Raspy growled.

James scowled and ignored the bandits, struggling feebly against Sparrow's grip. "Yes... well, if I leave now you won't have to protect me the rest of the way. So you see, it's a win-win... situation..."

Sparrow didn't seem overly convinced.

"Put yer arms around my neck." He instructed, tugging on James's arm again. James gave him an alarmed look. "Just do it."

"Go on, jump you big baby!" Boomer yelled.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Raspy added.

"They could die." Daft replied.

"Shut it." Raspy snarled.

Sparrow sighed and grabbed James's other hand, tugging them forcibly around his neck. "If yeh don't do as I say, I'll just toss yeh off, and that'll probably kill yeh."

"But-" James started to say, trying to squirm away. He could feel the panic swelling in his chest, but Sparrow wasn't listening. He hoisted James up off his feet and turned back to the bridge. "No!" James shrieked in terror, clinging to Sparrow in case he decided to toss him over anyway. He felt rather than heard Sparrow laugh before...

..before...

Before Sparrow jumped.

You know what I just realised? Sparrow's northern. XD

R&R if you feel like it.