I finished a request in record time guys! I'm so proud of myself! XD This is for Spunky-Eclectic-Princess42!

Song: Shadowland

Emil sneezed as dust from the parched ground hit his face. He rubbed his nose and glared at the broken ground beneath him. There wasn't a speck of water to be found anywhere for miles except in deep, deep wells and even they would dry up soon. He gripped the bucket in his hand tighter and forced his eyes open even as more dust billowed up when his feet disturbed the ground. He looked around at the miserable countryside around him; the ground he was walking on used to be fields of wheat and corn and trees used to line the paths. The rivers were all dry and even though the clouds above were gloomy Emil had little hope of rain, it hadn't rained in two years.

People might think it was ridiculous that a kingdom's fortune mirrored that of their king's but it was true. Emil remembered that fateful night two years ago when he and his brother still lived in the capitol city.

"Brother! Get up!"

Emil yelped in protest as Lukas shoved him out of bed. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, Lukas was running around their small apothecary shop, gathering up herbs, clothes and various other items.

"What are doing?!" he asked. Lukas didn't pause as he explained.

"The southern barbarians are coming; we have to get out of the city." Emil's eyes widened in shock. The kingdom had always felt threatened by the powerful country by the southern ocean, but they'd never had the audacity to attack a village, much less the capitol itself. He scrambled to his feet and looked out the window, sure enough, a mass exodus was taking place as the common folk fled the impeding battle.

Emil looked back at Lukas, "Where will we go?"

"To Berwald and Tina's farm."

At the mention of their brother and his wife another thought popped into Emil's head. "Wait, what about Matthias?!" Matthias was their eldest brother and a captain in the army. Lukas shook his head and finished stuffing everything in a burlap bag before throwing it over his shoulder.

"He's the one who told me to leave! Now hurry and grab your stupid bird!" He rattled his walking stick up in the rafters where Mr. Puffin's nest resided. The irate bird nipped at the stick before fluttering down onto Emil's shoulder. Lukas banged the door and charged out into the crowd. Emil ran after him and clung to his bag to keep from getting separated.

"But shouldn't we stay to help the wounded?!" Emil yelled over the crowd.

Lukas finally stopped for an instant. "If I thought we could win, we'd stay." He was off again, even faster than before.

"What do you mean we won't win?!" Emil practically screamed. A woman holding a squalling baby in her arms looked at him strangely but he ignored her.

Lukas shoved his was around a cart, "Think about it, Prince Matthew and Prince Alfred have almost half of the army up in the Northern Borders dealing with raids there. We're outnumbered. And if the king is captured and used as a hostage they'll have no choice but to surrender themselves or go into exile."

Emil felt a chill go through him that had nothing to do with the night air. "Y-you wrong!" he managed to choke out.

But Lukas had been absolutely right. King Arthur had been captured and his younger brothers had been banished along with some of the king's most trusted advisors, generals, and knights. The rest had been killed. The commander of the Southern army, Sadiq Adnan, had quickly and masterfully quieted any further resistance and settled in as a tyrant over their once fair land. There were rumors that the earth would continue dying until the true king was back on the throne. But what chance was there of that?

Emil sighed as he approached the pitiful well and attached the rope to his bucket. He held on to one end and let the bucket drop. A faint splash could be heard along with a distinctive thunk that meant it had hit the bottom. Emil pulled the bucket up and looked inside. Half full, that was surprisingly good. It would have been better if he'd been allowed to take both of their buckets but Tina always shot down the idea when Emil brought it up. There were other families who used this well she said, it would be unfair if they took more than they needed. She's too kind for her own good, he thought as he trudged back to the small farmhouse. And I KNOW other families are taking more than we are.

Their home was small and worse for wear but it was much better than most of the houses in the area since Berwald was a skilled carpenter and blacksmith. The roof was missing some shingles but it didn't leak, the windows were cracked but their frames weren't warped and the door stuck a little when you closed it but it kept the wind out.

Emil lifted the latch and walked inside. Tina crouched over a pot on the fireplace, one hand stirring the pot while the other kept her shawl out of the reach of the hungry flames. Tina was a pretty woman with pale blonde hair and light violet eyes. She looked up when Emil entered and smiled warmly. She whisked over to him and looked inside the bucket. "Oh good! This should help fill out the soup!" Tina took the bucket and began pouring the water into the pot. "Filling out the soup" meant adding lots of water to the soup so that everyone got enough to eat even if it made the soup tasteless.

"What have we got today?" Emil asked?

Tina smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Well, I have some old chicken bones in there, the marrow is good you know, some old potatoes and…well, it looked like a yam…"

"So the usual then?" Emil joked. Tina laughed and waved him away.

"You imp! Keep watch for Berwald and Lukas will you?"

Emil walked back out the door and sat down on the dirt cross-legged. Propping his elbows on his legs, he watched the road and let his thoughts wander where they may. He remembered when Lukas had nursed a twin brother and sister back to health, where were they? Had they managed to survive these terrible years? Had anyone he'd known survived? Perhaps they were all dead…

Emil was interrupted from these morbid thoughts by a faint dust cloud in the distance. As it got closer, he recognized the tall, broad frame of Berwald and the smaller, slimmer frame of Lukas. Emil ran inside and started grabbing bowls since his brothers would surely be hungry. Tina had noticed them by now as well and ladled the broth into the bowls. Lukas entered first, his bag of herbs slung over his shoulder. He'd been going around the area helping those who were sick and injured while Berwald tried to find work. So far he'd had no luck; people needed a miracle, not a carpenter, and had talked of going to a nearby city to find a job. Tina always objected strongly to this, the idea of separating their family was inconceivable to her and not to be mentioned.

Mr. Puffin swooped down from where he'd been hiding on a shelf and landed on Iceland's head, a sure sign that he was just as hungry as the rest of them. Berwald was blond like the rest of them though his eyes were a curious mix of green and blue. Berwald's serious face let in a small smile as he put Tina close for a hug. "M' w'fe."

"How was your day?" Tina asked as they all sat down. Berwald was not the talkative sort so he let Lukas do the talking.

"The same as it usually goes," Lukas shrugged. So that means nothing's changed, Emil thought as he sipped at his stew. He realized then as he was sitting there that something needed to change. He was sick of barbarian warriors terrorizing his country, he was sick of seeing overcast skies instead of sunlight. He missed the grass and the birds, the rivers and…freedom. Things needed to change, and he wanted to be a part of it. People talked of how the exiled princes were trying to bargain with the Tsar from the north for help, but so far nothing had come of that. The countries across the Western Sea were too far away. That left the East…

Emil cleared his throat and glanced at Lukas who was sitting directly across from him, "Brother, do you remember those stories you told me about the East? How there were mighty warriors there?"

Lukas looked up sharply, "Yes, what about it?" Tina looked at him curiously Mr. Puffin dug his beak into Emil's hair as if he could already sense the crazy plan hatching in his head.

"Well….what if we asked them to help us?!" Emil blurted out. Tina gaped and Lukas snorted in derision.

"You're crazy, little brother. Don't you remember the wall?" Emil shook his head slowly. "Well, long ago they built a great wall around their country to keep others out. They kill any outsiders, why should they help us now?" He went back to his food, signaling that the topic was closed.

Emil felt his temper rise and he banged his fist on the table. "But that was long ago! Maybe if we try now they would help us! We just need to ask! I could go tomor-"

"EMIL!" Lukas roared, standing up and towering over his brother. "Do you even hear yourself?! Why should YOU be the one to go?!"

Emil stood as well. Tina cringed at the sheer anger radiating from the two of them and leaned into Berwald. Berwald meanwhile was watching it all with his typical deadpan expression. "Why SHOULDN'T I?" You can't treat me like a child Lukas! I want to help! AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Mr. Puffin was strangely quiet, huddling up on his head. Emil flushed with embarrassment as he realized how childish he sounded.

Norway closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be regaining his temper, "If you want to help so badly, I will accompany you back to the capitol to see if we can find any news about Matthias, perhaps a few months from now." Emil's throat constricted, they hadn't heard any news of their eldest brother in two terribly long years. Many of their soldiers had been killed, the chances of Matthias surviving were slim at best… but still, they had to keep hoping, giving up on him wasn't an option. Lukas had already made several journeys to the city for just such a reason. "And I never want to hear you talking about going on such a… a…" Lukas trailed of, trying to think of the right word.

"Qu'st," Berwald supplied. Lukas nodded and sat down.

"Exactly, a quest. Leave those kinds of things to knights, little brother." He stared at Emil so fiercely that Emil was forced into submission… for the moment.

With a snort he kicked his chair away and stomped to his room. "Fine!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Everyone else was silent at the table. Finally, Tina lifted up her bowl, "Er…would anyone like seconds?"

Mr. Puffin squawked in annoyance as Emil woke him up by lifting him out of his nest. Emil winced at the noise and hushed him, "Shh! Do you want to get us caught?!"

The sky outside had become darker than usual signaling that it was the middle of the night. Emil quickly got dressed in his sturdiest clothes before grabbing his boots in one hand and using the other to place Mr. Puffin on his customary place on his head. Creeping slowly – Lukas was a deep sleeper but it didn't hurt to be cautious – Emil tiptoed from his room to the kitchen. He reached for the latch to the door and-

"W'rn't y' g'in' ta say g'dbye?"

Emil spun around in alarm, dropping his boots. Berwald stood by the fireplace his face barely lit by the smoldering embers. He didn't look angry or concerned and Emil took that to be a good sign. "I…I don't care what Lukas says, I'm going to the East!" he hissed. Berwald nodded slowly, thoughtfully. He turned to the fireplace and tugged on one of the stones, wiggling it until it came loose. He stuck a hand inside the cavity and pulled out a small bag from within. With a jerk of his hand he tossed it to Emil who quickly caught it. The jingle of coins made Emil blink in surprise. Berwald walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

" 't's j'st someth'n I've b'n sav'n."

Emil shook his head fiercely and thrust the bag back towards his brother, "I can't take your money Berwald!"

Berwald creached out and curled Emil's fingers around the bag. "I 'nsist." Wordlessly he reached around Emil and opened the door. The muggy night air hit Emil like a brick as he finally realized what he was doing. But he couldn't turn back now. Berwald grabbed Emil and pulled him into a tight hug and whispered, "D'n't f'rget us."

Blinking back tears Emil returned the hug, "I won't. I promise." After an age passed they let go and Emil faced the world outside. One step and his journey would begin. He stepped into his boots, giving Berwald one last look. "I'll bring back help, you'll see." Berwald nodded and his eyes shone with conviction. If anyone could do this, it was his brother. Mr. Puffin nibbled on his hair and the wind plucked invitingly at his sleeves.

With a deep breath Emil took his first step.

In case your wondering, this is set about 3-5 years after One Jump Ahead. I'm starting to really love this little world I've created guys, I'm seriously thinking of writing a full fledged story about it. What do you think?

Anyway, lots of stuff happened in this chapter. Lots of plot twists happened. New characters were introduced and certain questions left unanswered. What happened to the Vargas twins? Will Arthur ever regain his place on the throne or is he actually dead? What about Sir Ludwig and General Antonio, are they dead or did they escape? And who are these warriors from the East with their Great Wall? If your HongIce senses are tingling you're on the right track (SPOILER!).

Please Review!