Author's Note: OK, I think I've figured it out now. I think that, in my opinion, most of my chapters are rambly so it's probably just me. But I hope you like them anyway! Oh, and one other thing, please don't send me ideas for the fox's name. I always feel really mean when I read them because I've already picked one! Sorry guys! Anyway, enjoy! Remember to review!
Chapter Six
Determined
The field that Arthur and his men trained on was strewn with equipment. There were stuffed dummies, big, multicoloured targets and servants running all around the place. There were some servants dressed in odd bits of armour and flailing swords around while a Knight tried to fight them. There were servants running round with huge wooden shields that the Knights would throw knives at. There were more servants timing Knights as they would run from one end of the field to the other. It was a hectic scene. Emrys spotted Arthur in full combat with Leon. It looked like Arthur was winning, but not by much. It looked like they would be there for a while so Emrys surveyed the rest of the field, searching it for familiar faces. Elyan was striking a dummy, blindfolded, his face creased with concentration. Olwyn and Percival were fighting each other at the other end of the field. Braeden was aiming knives at a petrified servant who was cowering behind the huge shield while still trying to shuffle his way round the field. Delmar was sprinting up and down the field, sweat pouring down his face as he pushed himself. When he reached the end and consulted his servant, the servant would say the time and Delmar would shake his head and place his hands on his knees, lean over and pant heavily. Emrys couldn't spot Gwaine at first then he spotted him. He was dodging all of Lancelot's swings and grinning at him comically. Lancelot huffed and stuck him sword in the ground before confronting Gwaine. Emrys heard Lancelot state something like "Look Gwaine, I can't keep fighting while you have that stupid grin plastered to your face!" But Lancelot couldn't force away the smile that twitched at the edges of his mouth. This made Emrys grin stupidly. Gwaine grinned even more and shook his head and laughed. They then recommenced their fight even though Gwaine hadn't wiped away his grin. A few moments later Gwaine had pinned Lancelot to the ground with his foot and was bowing and shouting thank you's to an imaginary crowd while Lancelot laughed at his feet, even though he had lost. Gwaine soon finished his roll play and held out a hand to Lancelot who gratefully received it and patted Gwaine on the back. Both of them continued to laugh as they walked to the side of the field to grab a drink of water. At almost exactly the same time Arthur held Leon to the ground with his elbow. Emrys looked over the field once more. It amused him that while they were training desperately, the very person they were training to catch was watching them from a nearby rooftop.
Gwaine put down the cup and smiled at Lancelot. Lancelot returned the smile and also put down his cup.
"You put up a good fight back there," Gwaine grinned at Lancelot. "You keep going like that and you might even win next time. Well, I don't know. That is a bit far fetched…" Gwaine grinned even more. Lancelot laughed and shook his head.
"Oh, Gwaine. What would we do without you? You're the only one here who can look at this whole situation and still have a smile on their face."
"That's me. Although I don't think Arthur appreciates me as much as you do." Gwaine's smile diminished slightly.
"I don't think Arthur appreciates anything much anymore. This whole situation with… the Thief. He only wants make his father proud. Admitting to him every night that we were unsuccessful and seeing his father look so disappointed must hurt him. Anyway, he sounded pretty impressed with you last night. What was that he said? 'You did well tonight. Keep that up and you won't regret it.' or something? I'd say that's appreciative." Lancelot pointed out. Gwaine had to agree. He had been wondering all night what the Prince might have meant by that. It had to be something good. Gwaine had made a promise to himself that he would try his best that night to catch the Thief. He would stay up all night if he had to.
"He said that to you as well. 'Oh yes, brilliant tonight Lancelot.'" Gwaine imitated Arthur's voice with a stupid low voice and scowling round. Lancelot couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, but he didn't say anything about a special reward to me. And anyway, you were on top form last night. I thought you would catch him for sure, you were running so fast." Lancelot praised. Gwaine shrugged.
"Well, I'm determined to get at least a good look at him tonight. I need to find out what Arthur's talking about." Gwaine looked up as he heard footsteps approaching. He saw Lancelot stand up a little straighter as he saw who was striding towards them. Gwaine glanced up and rolled his eyes as he saw the Prince strutting toward them. Arthur didn't seem to notice as he paused in front of them.
"Come on you two. No slacking! Everyone's trying their hardest out there apart from you too. Now go!" Arthur pointed to the field and raised his eyebrows. Gwaine didn't bother hiding his weary sigh as he walked off with Lancelot. Arthur went off in the other direction to challenge Leon to another battle. Lancelot turned to Gwaine.
"Another fight? Or are you too scared I'll beat you this time?" Smirked Lancelot.
"No way. You're on," replied Gwaine. Before Lancelot could get a good grip on his sword, Gwaine had whipped out his and struck his unsteady sword. Lancelot caught the sword before it could hurtle off in the opposite direction and grinned at Gwaine. Gwaine grinned back and the crash of metal rang out once more over the field.
Emrys suddenly realised what was different about the Knights. They weren't wearing any armour. This was probably another genius idea from Arthur to try and get his Knights moving faster. When would he see that they would never be able to outrun him? He reached out and scratched behind the fox's ears. He had finally come up with a name for his new furry friend. Red. It was simple and was perfect for a fox.
"So Red, you want to come with me tonight? It'll be risky, but I bet you can handle it," Emrys whispered to Red. Red seemed to agree, nuzzling his nose into the folds of Emrys' cloak. Emrys chuckled and looked out over the city. He could see the people going about their business happily, unaware that Emrys was watching them. They looked tiny, like miniature insects crawling around the tiny houses. Emrys decided he would go and prepare for tonight. Something inside him told him tonight was going to be a big night. He skidded down the tiles of one side of the roof and then jumped off when he reached the edge. He landed on another roof and headed toward the woods, leaping from one rooftop to the other. Red bounded behind him, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth gleefully.
Arthur looked out into the night. Tonight he was determined. More than any other night. Tonight was special. He had been training his Knights all day. Surely they couldn't keep going on like this forever? It had been two and a half years and they still hadn't even had a glimpse of what Emrys looked like under that cloak. But Emrys still loved every second of Arthur's chase. Arthur couldn't understand how he could still enjoy terrifying the people of Camelot after what had happened. Arthur had found out what pure fear was that night. The image of Sir Delroy's lifeless eyes staring up to the starry sky still haunted him. That was what had driven him to keep fighting all these years. That and needing to prove himself to his father. Thinking about this only made him even more determined to catch the Thief. He promised himself that by the end of the night, he and his Knights would have had at least some form of progress toward catching the elusive Emrys.
Emrys looked up at the sky, dotted between the branches of the canopy above. It was time. He glanced over to Red who was snoozing on another branch of the tree. Emrys himself was sat on a branch in a tree just outside his tent. He had been whittling a branch down into a point with his knife. He admired at his handiwork. It had turned out OK. He leapt down from the tree and landed skilfully on his feet.
"Come on Red! It's show time," Emrys called. He propped his newly made spear up on the tree and looked up into the branches. Red had got up and stretched out, his claws flexing impressively. He then leapt down and landed on his feet just as Emrys had. "Be back in a second," Emrys said to Red. He ducked beneath the drape and grabbed his cloak once more from where it was hung up. He threw it over himself and fastened it on his neck. He pulled the hood up as he had so many times before. "You ready Red?" Red panted like a dog at him, his eyes full of excitement. Emrys grinned and nodded. "Come on then," and they both disappeared into the night.