Fainting sucks. My entire body felt like it was shattered into a million pieces of glass. I couldn't tell what was broken and what was barely hanging on. My head throbbed worse than when someone hit me with a rock, and to make everything even better, I really have to go pee.

The world around me was strange; unknown. There was a ceiling of concrete serval feet above and the floor felt colder than the mud that I slipped on. There was a ratty pillow, which looked like someone got a little hungry with, only a few feet away and two big pairs of shiny polished boots standing so close to my nose that I could smell the pig grease coating them.

Since I was no longer in my forest surrounded by my wildlife protection gang, and everything didn't look like it was constructed from that same stupid weather damage stone of Valley Broad, I automatically assumed that I'm at the kings' castle.

That dirty, rotten, no good knight broke our deal!

"Oh! Oh! It's awake!" A childish male voice hollered into my ear, "Good morrow! How. Are. You. Feeling?" Each word was slower than the last, and the volume wanted to make my ears bleed. The kids' heated breath pressed against my cheek which made me realize just how close he was, yet despite feeling more uncomfortable then the time I had the talk with my mum, I at least appreciate the fact that the kids' breath wasn't repulsing. It was the strange sent of freshly picked rosemary with a hint of something sweet.

Readjusting my eyes to the dimly lit room, I manage to find the kids square face just few inches above mine. The brat had odd golden eyes with a little splash of emerald around his iris. His hair looked like a sea of red roses, smothered in dirt, and despite him looking aesthetically pleasing to the eye, I really wanted to sock him in the face. His scrunched up button nose made his freckles looked squished together, and his funny clothes made him look like he was trying to mimic the royal families' attire; but failing.

"Would you shut up?" I muttered. My throat felt scratchy and along with the rest of my body, it cried in pain.

"And it speaks!" Rubbing his nose, he grinned at me. His teeth were maintained extremely well which definitely meant he wasn't a peasant, but who was he?

Trying to appear more intimidating and put together than I felt, I attempted to grab his neck. He gave me a ridiculous picture perfect smile before standing up. With a laugh, the male pointing at my wrists and I followed his finger with my eyes. My numb limbs were bound together by several thick ropes and I suddenly felt like a seasoned hog ready to be roasted. All I was lacking was a huge apple in my mouth.

Glaring at the smug brat, I could tell he was enjoying my pain. His eyes said so themselves.

"Who are you?" I demanded, whacking my tied up feet upon the floor.

The kids' laughter died instantly as he placed on a more serious expression. Bending down once more, he tilted his head towards me; which caused his dusty red hair to brush against my face. "It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is what you're going to do for me."

My heart began to panic and the ropes around my wrists felt like they were tightening.

"All you need to do is get something for me." He stated in a leisurely voice, "If you agree to the terms, I'll grant you protection and give you a pardon. Sounds like a deal?" Lifting up a hand, he started examining the tips of his fingers nails. His nails must have been a more interesting subject than myself because he didn't bother to glance at me again.

"Tell me what you want and who you are. Then I may consider your offer." I smirked.

His expression wavered. Suddenly finding his nails less intriguing, the boy started to reach behind his back for a something. That something I'm assuming is very small and very sharp. Aka, a knife.

"How about a deal?" His head slung to one of his shoulders as if appearing to be bored.

"The last person I made a deal with, fell short." I scowled.

He scowled right back, forcing his pretty little face to look not so pretty, "Look, all you need to do is get my sword back. It's located in the dining hall next to my father's chair. There's a knight currently on look out. I'm not allowed anywhere near my sword until I apologies to the old lady, but that's not going to happen. I saved your sorry rump from whatever you were doing, now you save mine."

My expression must have been firm because the kid furrowed his brow causing him to look like an upset pup. His bottom lip jutted out in a quiver, and he slid off of his legs and plopped upon the floor next to my lying body. He seemed like he was seconds away from begging me to help him.

I couldn't resist such a sad face. This sword he wanted couldn't possibly be too bad to get, plus, if I do him a favor he'll let me go home. If he doesn't, I promise to God I will break his teeth. "Okay, I'll get your sword, but you didn't answer my second question."

His pouting eyes were suddenly filled with glee and his 'mysterious I-don't-care-about-you' mannerisms died. Pulling out the knife from behind his back, (called it!) he started to hack at my restrains. His quivering lip returned to his picture perfect smile and his cheeks became flushed.

"I could just kiss you!" He squealed.

"Please don't." Rolling my head away from him, I watched his steady hands carving at my ropes carefully.

"Don't worry, I won't. You're to disgusting looking for me to kiss you."

The moment one of my hands were free, it bee lined straight into the red heads face. "How rude!" I screamed.

Watching him drop the knife and cup his nose in pain, the boy released a stifle cry. He seemed like he was trying to be manly by not whining about the pain, but his compose was pathetic. Rolling onto his back with his knees in the air, the boy slightly coddled himself and his possibly broken nose.

"Shouldn't I be the one to say that?" He gasped, finally returning to his rump and wiggling his nose with his fingers. It must have not been broken (darn) because after a few wiggles he glared at me with a spark in his eye.

"That's what you get for calling me ugly, and an 'it', and acting as if I was a waist of your time, and for being such a creep." Swiping the knife from the floor, I started to saw the ropes off my other wrist and move down to my stomach. Whenever the boy started to hint he wanted to get closer to my person, I drew the knife in his direction and he froze lifting his hands in the air as if he was proving himself innocent.

After freeing my legs and arms from that ridiculous restraint, all my blood started to flow respectfully into the correct places. My body may still be crying, but at least they were starting to feel less like ice and more like tingly porcupines. Rolling a wrist, I lowered the knife and eyed the boy carefully, for the most part he was only a little taller than me so I could take him on easily.

"Now answer my second question," I demanded, "or your da is going to have a nice surprise of dead son with dinner tonight."

He continued to hold his hands in the air. Our eyes were locked and I could still see the sparks of determination roaring within him. He wanted out of this situation just as much as I did, but I had the upper hand.

"That's not a very nice thing to do considering I saved you from death, but either way, my name is Godric Gryffindor." Eyeing me carefully I could see the gears in his brain starting to move. For a cute boy, he sure was stupid. Slowly he lowered his arms to his lap and waited for me to react the same. I didn't. So he continued from where he left off, "I can show you were my sword is at, but I'd like it better if you'd put the knife down first."

"How do I know you're not going to use the knife against me?"

"You don't."

"How about your sword?"

"It's wooden."

My cheeks heated. I was apparently threatening a boy with a sharp utensil all for a stupid wooden sword.

Lowering the knife, I gingerly set it in my lap before resting my palms upon the cold concrete floor. Now that I actually had wiggle room to check out my location, I noticed how small the place was. The room could probably fit three kids about my size max, and the whole side of the wall in front of my feet had metal bars that reached from the ceiling and were planted into the floor. Off to the far right, was the only exist for the room and it was completely wide open. I guess the boy wanted the whole situation to seem more relaxing by showing I could leave at any time, but his attempt at small talk wasn't very calming.

With his hands in front of him, to prove he wasn't carrying anything, the boy slowly started to shift his legs under him so he could get onto his feet. Even though he was trying to be cautious about his actions, I still felt like he was acting like a hunter and I was acting like his skittish deer ready to flee.

"What do you mean you saved me from death?" I questioned. My hands lifted from the floor and rested in my lap next to the knife. A few of my fingers inches for the sharp utensil out of pure defense.

"Well, apparently you're something like a satin baby? I'm not sure what that is, but I guess the people in your village wanted you dead?"

I rolled my eyes. Dead was a nice way of putting what my neighbors wanted to do to me.

He didn't wait for me to interrupt and continued his tale, "My father was supposed to go and check out your situation but his scheduled is a bit preoccupied at the moment, so John Whence went to check on you instead. My father trusts everything John tells him and John told him everything that happened at your town."

My throat started to feel abnormally dry, and that wasn't because it still hurt from screaming so much, "It's not pronounced as satin, it's Satan. He's a bad person in the bible."

The red head scratched his head and lifted an eye brow. He seemed like he wanted to have more of an explanation, but I wasn't about to go wasting my breath on him.

"What did that John guy tell your dad?"

Godric shrugged lazily and dropped his arms to his side, "Ya know, the whole thing about your town being crazy and you didn't do anything wrong."

Snatching up the knife, I bounced onto my wiggly feet and pointed the knife at Godrics' chest, "If I'm so innocent then why am I in a jail cell?"

I could feel a fire lighting in my stomach. I was pissed. All this time I was panicking about dying out side of my home and this bratty kid could have told me the moment I woke up that I'm not going to die. Godric definitely deserved another healthy sock to the face.

The red head lifted his hand up faster than I predicted and managed to swat his wrist against mine. Our hands collided and the knife flew into the air and skid upon the floor a few inches away. I tried to dive for it, but his arms wrapped around my waist and quickly my whole body was off of the floor and over his shoulder.

"It was just to spook you." He heavily sighed,"Ya' know, you're no fun."

I whacked him on the back of his head. He made a suppressed baby whine, but continued to carry me like a sack of potatoes.

"I never told you I was fun to being with, plus in my defense, you seem like a one of those creepy old farts who watch women all day!"

Godrics' ears turned brighter than his hair, but he kept his mouth shut. So I took it as a sign of him no longer wanting to talk.

He ended up lugging my body out of the prison cell that now contained a pealing knife and my tattered ropes, down a long corridor that was constructed of the same gray concrete that formed the jail, and up a flight of stairs that felt like they'd never end. When someone jokes about a basement being underground, well this basement must have been like twenty feet below. The only thing that broke the silence was the echoing of Godrics' smelly booth stomping upon each step, the sound of crackling fire coming from the torches that hung on the side of the wall, and the occasional rumble emerging from my stomach.

By the time we reached the top of the stair case, my body no longer felt like a million little porcupines were stabbing me and the pains I had before was dying away. As he opened a squeaky door from the basement, he pulled me into a hall way that stretched out on both side of us for miles. My mouth dropped. He dropped me too. To make it even worse, instead of landing on my feet, I landed on my rump.

I glared at him with all my might, but apparently my angered expression didn't faze him anymore because he simply stuck his tongue out at me before walking away. "Come on, we need to get to the dining room before my father arrives. If he catches us, we're both goners."

Godric turned to the left and started to head down the really long corridor. There were widows the size of baby horses on the right side of the wall, and never ending clusters of suits of armor, tapestries of angry people, and a few smaller flags that had the kingdoms symbol embroidered into it on the left side of the wall. My eyes were drawn to the tapestries. I've never seen anything more beautiful or amazing in my life. Their woven threads looked like streams of pure gold, and the detail in each one was breath taking. I held my hand out to touch one because it must have felt like a cloud, but Godric grabbed my arms and started to drag me away. Literally. My bum rubbing against the carpeted stone floor, feet out in front of me, and a grumpy face to state my disapproval.

"I'll give you the grand tour later." He scoffed, "But first our deal."

He dragged me about a quarter of the way down the hall where a wooden door, identical to the basement door, stood. It was the first one I've seen since we left the basement and I was very confused. Why have a corridor this big when there were barely any rooms?

When Godric pulled open a door he released my arm and I decided that was enough playing drag poor Helga around for a life time. The red head then hid behind the frame of the door as I got up onto my feet. Once I caught my balance, the two of us together peeked into the room. I felt like my jaw hit the floor when I suddenly came to understand about why there were very little amount of doors in the hallway.

The room was about ten times wider than the hall. It seemed like a good fifty fully grown cows could be able to stand on each other's backs and still fit comfortably in this room. The room was covered in even more elaborate tapestries and there were countless of pictures of men and woman all looking even angrier than the ones in the hall. In the center of the grand room was a wooden table that stretched the length of it and a good sixty or so seats sculpted around the edge of the wood. At the very end of the table, opposite to the door, were two of the largest chairs I've ever seen. One of them could fit two of those fifty full grown cows, while the other could have fit its baby. (if you can't tell, have a thing for cows) The back rest of the chairs had to be over seven feet tall and the tips of the back rest had a very elaborate design carved into it. The baby cow chair seemed to have something strapped around the middle of it, but the two adult cow chair was bare.

I have no clue who could possibly be Godrics dad, but whoever he was he sure had to be seriously connected with the king in order to not only live in the castle but have a huge wing all for him and his family.

Elbowing me in my tender ribs, Godric pointed at a seat that had a wooden sword leaning against it. Of course out of all the seats, it had to be the one who can fit two cows and was on the opposite side of the room.

I glared at him, he ginned back, I wanted to punch him, he pointed out were the guard was. And long behold, the guard was fast asleep. He was sleeping on a small stool wedged in the far left corner of the room with his back pressed against the wall. I rolled my eyes. This was going to be easy.

"Promise you're going to keep your end of the barging and take me back home?" I asked, holding up my pinky for him to prove his loyalties.

He grabbed my hand and planted a kiss on the back. With a wink he shoved me into the room and I stumbled to catch my footing.

Rubbing the hand Godric kissed against my dress, I shuffled closer to the long table as I checked on the guard. The man was fast asleep, but that didn't mean he was a heavy sleeper.

It was quite funny to hear the man snoring because it sounded more like a bear than a man and the room only made his bear sounds ten times louder, plus his round belly, funny beard, and floppy helmet hair that covered his eyes made me giggle. Especially when he blew air from his mouth and his helmet heir flew up to reveal his hidden eyes.

It was easily to tell that Godric was feeling impatient as I analyzed the room because he started to silently jab a finger within the air in the direction of the sword while wordlessly mouthing the word Go to me several times. I sent him a very inappropriate gesture right back. If he wanted me to get his stupid sword, then he should learn that he shouldn't rush perfection.

Eyeing the guard, I decided it might be best to not stand in his line of vision; aka the table. So, I slid over to the wall and flatted myself against the chilly stone. Gliding from the door over to the first corner was easy. There were no suite of armor, no tapestries, no nothing. They were bare walls ready to be covered in stuff over time, but going from one corner of the room to the other corner was going to be a bit harder.

Slipping over to the first suit of armor that was only two feet away, the guard made an unsettling sound of a horse's neigh and I panicked. I dropped to the floor and covered my head in hope that my small body couldn't be seen from behind the table.

The guard released a stream of mutters before inhaling another breath and resuming his snoring. An echo of a smack ran alongside the snoring sounds and I turned back to see Godric with his face pressed into the frame of the door. He must have thought my actions were ridiculous.

Looking ahead, I kept to my hands and knees and started to crawl past the suit of armor. I was completely and utterly in the complete clear! Nothing was about to get in my way!

Army crawling half way through the room was a cinch, but an unnerving sound of a door opening directly across from me caused me to freeze. The bear like knight, with his round belly, continued to snore just as loud as before but now an additional voice proceeded to drown out the noise.

"Nigel!" Yelled a deep male voice, "How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep on the job?" A smacking sound resonated through the room. When I looked back at Godric, expecting that sound came from him again, the expression upon his face clearly stated that we were in deep waters. His complexion became ghostly white and he shook his head in a that-wasn't-me kind of way.

The Bear Man woke up startled. He started to cling things against his armor and I started to scuttle faster. Since the two of them were busy, I might as well get out of an obvious location.

"I'm awake sire!" Bear Man cried. His voice sounded like a grizzle bear trying to wake up from a nap.

"You do realize that this is your third time doing that this week, don't you? I'm going to have to report this to Whence."

Bear Man sobbed, "No, I-I'm just having bad nights of sleep! You see there is this stupid cat and-"

"I don't care about a damn cat! Pay attention to your job!"

I glanced back at Godric hoping he'd give me some type of explanation of what they were arguing about, but much to my surprise, his pale face was quickly being replaced by a huge goofy grin and he seemed like he was trying to swallow a frog.

I shrugged and continued to army crawl past the center mark of the room when I noticed something black walking behind the large chairs. I never knew what a dying heart would feel like until now. I inhaled a sharp breath. I wanted to get up and run, but instead I scurried under the nearest chair legs and crawled beneath the super long table. (once again, perks of being short) I was bluntly obvious to Bear Man and his big nosed friend, but undetectable by the new person, and quite frankly, I wasn't too worried about being spotted by the older guards. Bear Man was really the only one who could see me as clear as day but he was so absorbed in defending his case of sleeping on the job that he probably wouldn't have even noticed a twenty foot tall monster robbing the castle.

My main problem at the moment wasn't the two nincompoops arguing in the corner of the room, but it was actually the silent new person that tagged along with Bear Mans' friend. As the black blob came around the baby cow chair, all I saw was their worn down and tattered shoes from under the table. That caught me off guard because the other two knights were wearing really nice shoes. Right off the back, the new figure reminded me of a peasant because of that fact, but when he walked passed my location and further down the table I could make out what his clothing was. It was a Mercia squire uniform with many different colored patches sewn upon it. I assumed that he was working for the knights, so I was going to treat him like an enemy at the moment, but deep down I felt bad for the kid.

Standing completely still, I allowed Bear Man and his big noes friend to continue their back and forth conversation as I eyed the new person. He appeared to be several years older than Godric and myself. He had really short choppy hair that was barely tied back into a pony tail, and his really pale complexion made me think he was severely ill. The squire had a narrow face and almost translucent skin; which was creepy. He was a scrawny male that he seemed like he was confident in what he was doing.

When he passed the part of the table that I hiding at, I took my chance and crawled out from under it. Nigel, aka Bear Man, was now in a hysterical fit complaining about the cat, while his big nose friend was trying to calm him down.

Telling myself to no longer look at the charcoal hair boy, I started to worm my way up the side of the table. I was only a few feet away from the chair that could fit a baby cow when my deepest desire was pleading for me to look at the kid. Giving in to my temptation, I glanced back and found the square boy directly in front of the entrance door with wide turquoise eyes staring at me

I managed to time my gasp right at the moment when everyone stopped talking (aren't I amazing?) and Bear Man, along with his big nose friend, immediately drew their sword.

"Annoying little-"the big nose man muttered.

"Godric!" Bear Man hollered, "We know you're in here. So just come out already and save us the trouble."

The turquoise eyed boy continued to stare at me like an owl. He seemed more surprised to see me then I seemed to be of him, and that's saying something. Big Nose seemed to have noticed Turquoise Eyes odd reaction because he shifted his direction and started walking toward him. Despite Big Nose lowering his voice, his words could be heard as clear as day, "He's there isn't he? Don't be useless, boy, grab him already!"

I turned my head towards the large chairs and started to shuffle as quickly as I can. The noise of my dress rubbing against the floor echo loudly and I could feel everyone's eyes staring at me through the wooden table.

Managing to make it behind the baby cow chair, I curled my knees into my chest and covered my mouth. Bear Man was approaching the chairs from my left while Big Nose and, I assume, Turquoise Eyes was coming from my right.

My heart was kicking my ribs and I felt like the thumping of my chest along with my trembling breath gave away the fact that I wasn't the red headed brat that they were looking for.

As the shadow of the men grew in size against the wall, I started to search for a new opening; just like I did at home. In desperation I looked up to the ceiling for some type of answer, and surprisingly I found one. (I should look up more often) Finally understanding what was strapped to the backrest of the baby cow chair, I learned it was a holder for a very elegant bow hanging just above my head. Beneath the bow, attached to the same strap, was a quiver full of arrows. I'm not about to die for a stupid stranger and I especially am not about to die over a stupid wooden sword.

Reaching for the strap of the bow, I started to prepare myself mentally for another fight. I knew my odds were worse than at home because my body was still crying from the aftermath of everything, but a bow and arrow seemed intimidating and maybe I could just talk my way out of the situation with a drawn strings.

Much to my surprised, Mr. I-don't-want-to-get-in-trouble, must have understood how intense my problem became in such a short amount of time because before I was able to unhook the bow, Godrics voice boomed into the room with great intensity. "If you're looking for me," He laughed manically, "I'm over here; turd heads!"

Big Nose screamed, and Bear Man chuckled. I don't know what Turquoise Eyes did, but I saw my opportunity for freedom!

Pulling the bow from its strap, I placed an arrows' nock against the sting and pulled back as far as I could. (maybe like 10 inches?) I than stepped out from behind the baby cow chair feeling like I was a goddess ready for strike down my prey. I really wanted to see the expressions upon everyone's faces as I threatened them to leave us alone, but my drowsy hand slip on the string and the arrow went flying. Unlucky for Big Nose, and the fact that he was right in front of me, the arrow flew in a straight line and slipped into the unprotected part of the armor by his knee.

He screamed in pain and doubled over. I panicked and dropped the bow, Godric released a strange battle like cheer and began applauding me for my actions. As he jumped up and down hollering in glee, my stomach fell and a horrible sensation of guilt riddled me.

Rushing behind the baby cow chair, I booked it over to his neighbor and snatched the wooden sword that was resting against it. Despite being shocked by the situation, Bear Man noticed me right away and cocked his head; as if thinking about wither or not I belong there. He finally decided I didn't and tried to swing his stumpy pig arms at me. I ducked and ran back to the other side of the baby cow chair.

Turquoise Eyes were there this time, and he no longer looked like a terrified deer. He too tried to grab at me, but I ran back behind the baby cow chair. Since Bear Man was on one side, and Turquoise Eyes was on the other, I decided to take a short cut and I pushed myself in between the two chairs and climb on top of the really long wooden table.

Turquoise Eyes understood what I was doing a lot quicker than Bear Man or Big Nose, because he sprinted passed Big Nose, and his bleeding knee, all the way to the opposite side of the table. I didn't even reach the half way mark by the time he jumped on top of the table and lunged at me.

My brain shut off instantly from the shock of seeing a larger man flying at me, so in all honesty I wasn't really thinking much. Instead of using the wooden sword to smack Turquoise Eyes in the face, I kind of decided to throw Godrics' stupid wooden sword into the air. Unfortunately, my throwing skills had not improved during my hours of being unconscious and the whole situation with my rock throwing occurred in repeat right before my eyes.

The sword went up and then fell right back down. Right in front of me.

Turquoise Eyes stopped running and stared at the sword on the table. His expression was mixed with so many different emotions that I couldn't tell what was running through his mind, but Godrics' hysterical laughter easily told me what he thought of my talent. Big Nose, on the other hand, found the whole situation to be a waste of his time and began cursing up a hurricane of rude words at Godric and I. Bear Man found Big Nose to be very rude and started calling him out on his inappropriate behavior to children, but Turquoise Eyes continued to hold an unreadable expression.

While everyone sort of just froze in the act, Godric rushed into the room, grabbed his wooden sword, yanked my arm causing me to stumble off the table and onto his shoulder once again, and rushed out of the room in a fit of laughter. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and his breathing was sharp and rapid.

I whacked him on the head again, but he continued to laugh all the way out of the room and into the hallway. Once in the hall, he decided to take a right and continue heading down in the direction we were originally going.

In our quick grab-and-dash attempt, Big Nose started waddling out of the room in an attempt of a chase after us and Bear Man was paying more attention to Big Noses' knee than Big Nose was.

"Now don't go thinking that we're in the clear just yet, girl!" Godric gaped in between his staggered laughs, "Salazar is a slippery snake!"

Feeling my stomach beginning to claw into my liver from the lack of food, the weird nausea I had before arriving at the castle was starting to develop again and bouncing on Godrics' shoulder didn't help, "Whose Salazar?" I yelled.

Suddenly feeling like I was being thrown off of a galloping horse, I landed on the concrete upon my back and Godrics' surprisingly dense body came tumbling on top of me. It hurt a lot worse than a rock to the head.

Watching the red heads ridiculous wooden sword go flying into the air, my eyes watched its strange circular action as it came tumbling right towards my face. I had no time to shove Godric off of me, so I simply screamed like an idiot until a pair of ghostly hands grabbed the sword in midair.

My scream sounded more like a long stretch of releasing air with a hint of a sound, but it continued long after I noticed another door frame on the side of the wall. Turquoise Eyes was standing within the opening of the new door. His foot was slighting sticking out, and the wooden sword that Godric and I tried so desperately to get, was within his grasp.

"I would be Salazar," Turquoise Eyes smirked.

Author Note (*)

So, my current plan is to update this story ever Saturday! If I can't make a dead line, I'll notify you guys on my profile.