I guess the last chapter was a very poor version of a filler chapter huh? It turned as more of an action chapter if anything else.
Hey! It may be boring to you but my favourite part from that chapter was when me and you fought together. That was totally awesome! Now, on with this chapter.
Enjoy this second last chapter of the story!
"My God! My sword has been stolen!"
The slamming open of a door was the first sound of the day as the sun broke over the horizon, spilling brilliant golden shafts of light through the palace windows. There was a slight scene of disorder in one of the wings of the palace as a group of four men discussed a few missing items.
"That is not the only thing that was taken. It seems all four of our uniforms have been stolen as well." Aramis stated, his expression a thoughtful frown.
"There is also the set of keys that I keep for the Bastille." D'Artagnan pointed out. He looked strange in what would be considered civilian clothes since he did not have his uniform.
"Who would steal all four of our swords, uniforms, and that set of keys?" Porthos asked, confused by the happenings.
"I think I can tell you who." The three of them turned to see Athos walking down the hall towards them, his face grim. When he came upon them, they said nothing but and waited for what he had to say.
"I had a feeling that something about this was not right and I went to check to see if those boys were awake at this time. Neither of them is there. In fact, all three of the children have vanished from what I can see." He said, stressing the word three to show that he had an idea as to who had stolen their possessions.
"Captain!" A voice called. D'Artagnan turned around to see his lieutenant running towards him. The young man stopped in front of him, panting from the run.
"There has been trouble at the Bastille. Someone seems to have trying to get someone out." The four older men shared a look before pushing past the still heavily breathing lieutenant and headed for the nearest door.
Shawnee and Brenna sprinted through the halls, their pants heard over the clapping of their boots on the cold stones. They found themselves pausing now and again, feeling completely lost within the maze of halls until they came upon the sound of fighting. As they passed the hall where a fight had broken out, Shawnee gave it a quick glance and went to pass before freezing and coming back to peer a bit better down the hall.
"Chris! Jordan! Come on boys, we've got to get out of here!" Chris looked up as he punched in the face of a guard.
"Did you find Brenna?" He called to her. Brenna peeked around the corner at him.
"I'm right here you idiot! Now drop the guard and let's go!" Chris gave the guard one last punch and Jordan tripped up the guard he had been facing off with and the two of them ran after the two girls as they fled towards the door that they had got in through in the first place.
The four of them took the stairs, two at a time, and jammed themselves in the doorway at the bottom in their haste to get through since there wasn't enough room for more than one person at a time. Chris hadn't gotten stuck but he barreled right through the door, pushing the other three through it as well.
They paused to close the door and barricade it shut with a small wooden beam that was leaning against the corner to be used for such a purpose and took off around the corner, finally slowing down to revel in their victory. They were laughing at Chris's tale of why the two boys had been fighting a pack of guards when Shawnee stopped suddenly in front of them, throwing her arms out to the sides to stop the other three.
"What's going on Shawnee?" Brenna asked before she looked down at the other end of the hall to their exit door and felt her body go numb. Standing at the other end, waiting patiently, was the musketeers. Shawnee gulped in fear and gave them a small, nervous smile to which she was responded with a glare from each man.
"I-I can explain…" She chuckled nervously. D'Artagnan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
"Well I would love to hear this explanation." She shifted from foot to foot, fingering the edge of the uniform coat she wore as she tried to think of what explanation she could give. Shawnee looked at Brenna before smiling and pushing her forward.
"Well actually I can't explain… But Brenna can!"
"Oh gee… Thanks Shawnee." She said sarcastically before she turned her attention to the waiting musketeers. She frowned at their angered expressions.
"There is nothing to explain. She saved me where you four failed and that's all there is to it." She stated firmly. Athos shot Shawnee a look out of the corner of his eyes before focusing again on Brenna.
"That little thief saved you?!" He asked her incredulously. Brenna looked over at Shawnee who was glancing around the room in a picture of mock innocence.
"Shawnee… Just what DID you steal from them?" She asked. Aramis gave a cough and answered for her.
"Our uniforms, swords, and the set of keys to open this door is what she stole."
"And I would not mind having my sword returned now." D'Artagnan demanded. Shawnee gave the musketeer an indignant look.
"I did not steal your sword! We got these from some guards we had to take care of!" She protested. D'Artagnan raised an eyebrow at her in skepticism.
"Then what is that in your hand?" Shawnee gave him a confused look and glanced at her right hand to see that she had been waving around the sword when she had been using her hands to emphasis her protests.
"Oh… you mean this sword? I didn't know it was yours!" She said; her voice dripping with sarcasm. D'Artagnan stared at her, sputtering in disbelief, unable to think of anything to say for a few seconds.
"You have been using it to practice with all this time and you say you did not know that it was mine?!"
"No but I knew pigs could fly!" She quipped back and rolled her eyes.
"Of course I knew it was yours you fool. Why do you think I borrowed it? It's the only one I've used so I've gotten comfortable with it." He glared at her and walked right up to her.
"Well it is time for you to return it to me. Now." She frowned at him and went to lift the baldric over her head when there was a loud crash as the door at the other end of the hall burst open after having been battered down by the guards that had been chasing them earlier.
"Oh great…" Chris muttered. "We've got company again." The crowd of guards stopped as soon as they saw the four musketeers standing there with the four kids. Shawnee turned around, dropping the baldric back onto her shoulder, and gave them a rather annoyed frown.
"Don't you people ever quit?" The leader of the group pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her.
"You're all under arrest." Shawnee blinked at them and looked at the other three.
"Seriously, they have got to be kidding."
"If they say it again, then they're fools." Brenna muttered. The guard gestured violently with the pistol.
"Did you not hear me the first time?! You are all under arrest!" Chris and Jordan shared a look.
"A fool." They stated simultaneously. The guard's face darkened in rage.
"Do you intend to come quietly or do you intend to resist?" Chris waved his hand lazily in the air.
"Oh don't be so stupid! Of course we intend to resist. Just give us a moment!" They looked at the four of them in shock as the kids formed a huddle. The musketeers watched all of this from their positions near to the door, slightly surprised at their behavior, before coming over to join their huddle.
"What do you four want? This isn't your fight." Shawnee hissed at them. Porthos shrugged.
"And let you children have all the fun?"
"Just let them stay." Brenna said. "We could use the help. We're outnumbered here."
"But first you will need to give back our swords." Aramissaid. Shawnee gave him a disbelieving look.
"You have got to be kidding! You four weren't supposed to even be here in the first place! This is our fight, not yours, so stay out of the way!" Shawnee growled before the four kids spun around.
"Now we are prepared to resist you!" Chris quipped. They charged forward to attack the mass of guards, the yelling of both parties barely heard over the sounds of swords now clashing and the orders being shouted by Louis who had recovered from his earlier "meeting" with the floor and had made his way to where the action was.
"We cannot let them do this on their own!" Aramis protested. Athos gave a small shrug.
"What choice do we have? We have no weapons to speak of." He said quietly.
Brenna found herself confronted by two men and was soon practically dancing around their attacks, their swings rather clumsy. They would attack and she would dodge and nick them here and there, getting close enough to strike and annoy them to no end but never close enough for them to have a chance to get a hold of her.
Chris had a pair of guards to himself; big bruiting fellows that liked to fight dirty. He was forced to add a little finesse to his style; actually using the sword as a weapon instead of simply clubbing people in the head with it. He beat out the smaller of the two by landing a deep slicing wound across the guard's knee then turned his attention to the other one who was coming at him swinging.
Jordan ducked away from one of the two guards he was up against as they tried to attack him. The guard's sword ending up being broken in two by its impact with the wall. The second guard soon suffered the same fate as his compatriot which forced the two of them to ask for mercy.
Shawnee growled angrily and found herself being pressed in on all sides by a trio of guards. Every time she parried the move of one, another came in to counterparry her move which forced her to dodge and put her in the way of the third. He went to attack but she swung her elbow up in high arc, catching him under his chin and sending him sprawling.
"This cannot continue like this. They are completely outnumbered!" D'Artagnan said; his voice tinged with worry. He bolted forward and stole the sword of the guard Shawnee had felled, joining her in fight against the other two. He gave her a rough push and sent her hopping away, trying to stay balanced on one foot.
"We will take over from here Shawnee." Athos came up behind her and took D'Artagnan's sword from her. "Just try and get the rest of the others out of here." Shawnee stared at him in enraged shock as the three ex-musketeers joined up with her friends and gave them a chance to slip away over to her instead of simply pushing them aside.
She stood there, her arms crossed and her face screwed up in a pout, when she spotted something on the far side of the room. It was Louis. Holding a gun. And aiming… Her eyes widened when she saw that he had his sights set on D'Artagnan. Brenna, Chris, and Jordan were still distracted by the fights before them so she sneaked away, staying close to the wall to slip past the fights.
Louis was so completely focused on his plan, that he didn't see Shawnee at all until he was tackled to the ground by her. He pulled the trigger as he fell but his shot ended up hitting the ceiling right above the musketeer, showering him with a cascade of sparks from the metal ball's connection with the stone.
She swatted away the pistol from his grasping hand, sending it skidding across the floor. She then gave him an extra push back down on to the floor as he went to stand and stood herself. Louis bolted to his feet as she was brushing herself off and went to take a swing but was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulder which squeezed menacingly. He turned, his eyes following the length of the arm until they reached the person it was attached to. Chris gave him a nasty glare.
"I don't think you want to do that." Louis gulped fearfully and looked past the tall boy to see Porthos watching menacingly, standing right behind him. He looked left to see that the fight had stopped; the groups of guards and musketeers watching him, musketeers angry and guards shocked.
"This man is an imposter and is certainly not the King. Return him to his cell at once and from now on, do not listen to anything he may say." D'Artagnan ordered. The guards followed the order without a word, still shocked and rather furious at being so easily deceived.
"I think it is time we returned to the palace." Athos muttered quietly. The other musketeers nodded and turned to leave, the kids following as a tense silence settled over the two groups.
And that is the end of that chapter. This has to be the most action filled chapter of all. Hopefully you all enjoyed it and are now looking forward to the final chapter.
Aww… I can't believe the story is almost over.... anyway hope you liked this chapter.
Thanks goes to our reviewers as per usual. I would type names but I'm a bit too lazy to do so at the time of this writing.