Also Titled: More Filler, But This Time There's Fluff~

The journey down the mountain was decidedly much more pleasant than the trip up, especially since they were riding horses. In a shorter time than Arthur imagined they'd left the snow behind them and had found a path out of the mountain range. For two days they'd ridden as hard as they dared, knowing that they had to get as big a head start as possible. Matthias' ambush may have bought them some time, but neither Arthur or Alfred wanted to be captured by the Nockmaar army a second time.

Speaking of those two days, the first night had been… difficult. Finding somewhere to rest the night had been fine, but…

"What are we going to do with her?" Lukas had croaked, pointing a wing towards Natalia.

There'd been a debate but eventually they'd tied her to a tree for the night. It made Arthur uncomfortable, what with him being raised to treat all women respectfully, but the conversation between Natalia and Alfred had been even more so.

"Worthless, lying bastard," Natalia had hissed as Alfred tied her to a trunk with some rope.

Alfred responded by jerking the rope a bit tighter than needed. "Yeah, well, maybe tonight you can think about all the lives you and your king have ruined."

The platinum blonde lifted her chin into the air. "Those people brought it upon themselves, breaking treaties with my big brother."

Alfred had circumnavigated the trunk to look at her. "What the hell are you talking about? And what's so special about your brother that King Ivan would care about him?"

"My big brother is King Ivan."

And it had gone downhill from there. Arthur had sat huddled by the fire, covering Lilli's ears as the screaming match commenced. It had gotten so bad that Lukas flew off to find a quieter perch.

The second day, Arthur reflected, had been a bit better. Again Natalia was tied to a trunk, but Alfred was more curious than angry that day.

"You said other kingdoms had broken some promise with Ivan, what's that about, princess?" he asked, pronouncing her title as if it were some kind of profanity.

Natalia eyed him coldly. "A few years ago our land had a bad harvest and it seemed that the people would suffer that winter. My brother quickly made treaties with other, more bountiful countries, agreeing to exchange money for enough provisions to feed our people. The other kingdoms, including Galadoorn-" She'd paused and twisted her lips. Arthur saw Alfred's fists tighten but he'd said nothing. "...They never fulfilled their side of the bargain," she finished. "Many poor families starved to death, in the castle we barely had enough to eat ourselves, and..." Her midnight eyes flashed in the firelight. "Your people are scum, preying off my people's weakness."

Alfred had been quiet for a while before sitting on a nearby log and responding. "I think I know what you're talking about. But the way I heard it, Ivan hid the food away somewhere and kept it for himself and his army, leavin' everyone else to fend for themselves. The next spring he used that better fed, better trained army to attack for no reason."

"Liar! How can someone shunned by his own people be trusted!" Natalia had spat.

"If your brother's so good, why's he having you chase after a baby?!"

Lilli chose that moment to coo and wave her arms in an adorable manner. Natalia had no answer and turned her head away. The rest of the night was passed in an awkward silence, though Lukas stayed with them that time.

Now, on the morning of the third day, Lukas had led the little party off the path and into a sparsely wooded area. Arthur looked around nervously, these trees had a sickly feeling to them. The thick morning mist didn't help matters. After about five miles travel through this forest, it came to an abrupt halt. Arthur gaped.

Before them the land dipped into a gigantic canyon. No, it wasn't a canyon…

"It's a maze!" Alfred hooted, excitement evident in his eyes. Great rocky projections jutted up, dividing the way into multiple twisting paths, most of which were invisible due to the fog.

"I… don't suppose we have to go in there?" Arthur asked.

Lukas landed on a tree branch. "Tir Asleen lies on the other side."

"Of course it does."

From her place sitting in front of Alfred, Natalia sat almost passively, her mind whirling in confusion. The man's words about what had happened that terrible winter were shaking her confidence in her own kin! He had to be lying, Ivan would never do something so horrible! If the bastard had known what they had lost that winter-! Sure her brother was cold and distant, but wasn't it better for a king to rule logically than be controlled by his emotions? Eliminating a threat to the kingdom, even if it was just a baby, was a justifiable course of action, right?

She took in a deep breath and struggled to pull her mind back into the present. The talking crow was leading her captors to Tir Asleen. She'd almost laughed aloud when the peck had mentioned it in the tiny hut. Didn't they know-

Nevermind.

"Who is the General?" she asked, almost in a conversational manner. A smirk spread over her face when Alfred jumped, one of his arms tightening around her waist.

"What do you mean?"

She twisted around to look at him, just managing to meet one of his sky blue eyes. "You know, the one whose face you spat on."

Alfred grimaced. "Back when I was training to be a soldier in Galadoorn, when I was just a kid really, there was a general who oversaw our training. There were other generals of course, but to us he was the general. Everyone respected him, and he cared about us." There was a long paused and Alfred's next breath sounded shaky, though his voice did not. "Then I decided to take a… different path. I appropriated some valuables and left, but not before the General and Matthias tracked me down and confronted me. It didn't end well, and I had to run away-"

"Not before spitting on him I'm guessing?"

"Shut up, princess. Anyway… I found out a bit later that he'd been accused of high treason by one of his rivals and… was killed. It wasn't until after the execution that he was proven innocent."

Natalia's heart inexplicably ached for the unknown man, the injustice of it pulling out her compassion even though he'd served one of her enemies. "That is unfortunate," she whispered.

"Yeah, General Carriedo didn't deserve it."

Sighing softly, Natalia faced forward again, wiggling a bit. Alfred's grip tightened again and any pity she felt for him evaporated. "You're holding me too tight!"

"Well, I don't want you to get away," he grumbled, reminding her of something.

"Why? Because I'm your sun, your moon, your starlit sky?" she mocked bitingly. That was right, she was supposed to hate this deceiving, shameless, handsome- loathsome man! She turned her head and inadvertently her silky hair rubbed against Alfred's chin and cheek.

"Get your hair outta my face before I chop it off," he commanded gruffly, jerking her so that her head rested against his left shoulder and out of his line of vision. She hated being pressed up against him like this.

They rode for a few more paces before he asked warily, "Did I really-... Did I really say those things that night? In your tent."

"You said you loved me," Natalia accused. And I was stupid enough to believe you.

"Dude, I honestly don't remember that-"

"You lied to me!" Damn her voice for cracking!

Alfred struggled to explain that weird, blissful sensation he'd felt just before his memory drew up a blank. "No, I- I just wasn't myself that night."

"I suppose my power enchanted you and you were helpless against it, yes?"

"Sort of…?"

"Then what?"

"...It went away."

Natalia stiffened with indignation. "It went away? 'I dwell in darkness without you,' and it went away?!" her voice rose in pitch and volume, making Alfred cringe back. She felt him nod and used that perfect opportunity to elbow the mudak as hard as she could in the stomach. There was a satisfying yelp of pain, all the air was forced out of Alfred's lungs and his arms left her waist completely. She nimbly hopped off the horse and began running full speed in the other direction.

She'd barely gone a hundred yards when the pounding of feet behind her grew loud and insanely powerful arms tackled her, pulling her down. Alfred grappled with her for a few seconds on the ground before he got a good grip on her arms and pinned them down. Ahead of them Arthur heard the commotion and stopped to see what was going on. Natalia glared up at Alfred, hating him all the more for his strength and the fact that he was so easily making her defenseless.

The enemies stared at each other, taking in each other's face. It was the first real opportunity either had gotten to do so. Alfred noticed a faint scar on Natalia's chin just below her full lips. Natalia noticed with interest that a tuft of Alfred's hair completely defied gravity.

A loud squawk from Lukas interrupted them. "I see the General! Hurry!" He was looking some distance behind them from one of the rock spires.

Alfred grunted as he pulled her to her feet and tried to drag her back to the horse. Now though, with no knife to play a factor and emboldened by the thought of reinforcements, Natalia struggled tooth and nail to break free.

"Alfred! Just let her go!" Arthur shouted. "We need to go!"

Natalia yelped as Alfred literally lifted her up into the air, her legs flailing. A good punch to the jaw made him tumble over and she broke free a second time. Wasting no time she started running again, knowing he would have to choose between her capture and his freedom.

"Alfred, come on!" Arthur begged.

Alfred shuffled forward a few steps before skidding to a stop. He didn't want her to get away, but time was of the essence. Finally, agonizingly, he ran back to the horse, motioning for Arthur to go ahead.

Pausing at a turn in the canyon, Natalia looked back at Alfred. Now mounted, he looked back at her. Something indefinable passed between them.

Looking back only once more, Natalia turned and ran back down the path. Alfred let out a tiny sigh and urged his horse on.

"This way!"

A loud, booming voice just ahead made Natalia stop. The thundering of many hooves grew louder and soon an scouting party led by the General rounded a corner. She waited as the General slowed his mount until he was beside her. He looked her up and down slowly, and she was unable to get an idea of his emotions behind the skull mask.

"They're headed to Tir Asleen, General," she reported. A rippling laugh from the scouts confirmed what she'd heard. Ivan had-

"You will wait here until the main force comes. We have no extra horses for you," the General commanded. Natalia nodded quickly, saving her disgust for the man from showing on her face until he and his group had rode by. She sat down on a rock and waited.

Betrayal! Scandal! Drama! Various other plot devices!

Yeah, I felt the story needed more of that. I'm sorry, those of you who've seen the movie, if you don't like the changes, but... screw it. It's my story.

(And I get the feeling that when we finally do find out who the General is, all of your guesses will be completely incorrect. XD)