It seems I am obligated to apologize again for not updating, though I promised to do it faster! I do not have any liable excuse, therefore I am grateful you stayed with me.
I don't own pokémon or any of the characters.
Please review! And enjoy of course
Chapter 5: Difference
May sighed, as much as she had wanted to come along on this trip, she had certainly not expected to walk so much. And she had only reached the outskirts of the camp. She groaned at the thought of the walk back.
Fewer people were seen around here. In fact, since it was almost dark, the only thing visible were the fires of the guards. May found it quite unnessecary since they were still so far from the front. But her father apparently thought it was necessary. She sighed, there were still so many things to learn.
Suddenly a man with a bottle in his hand came walking towards her. "Hey! You-u! Why don't you commmee with-h me-e to the partyyy-. It'sss a kinguh-uh..!" he shouted as he fell forward towards May.
May pressed her heals in the dirt and pushed the man back on his feet. "...Pa-Paaartyyy!" the man finished as if nothing had happened.
"Uh...well...ah.." May searched for words to politely refuse the man.
The said guy roared of laughter, "Man, your voice sounds like that of a girl!" he laughed.
"That would be enough," another voice interrupted the man's slurring.
"Ah, Drew-w," tha man said cheerfully and seemed to fall backwards for a moment but then restored himself. The man was clearly drunk. "Why don't you come too?" he said. May turned around to the arrogant teen. For a fact she hadn't heard or seen him coming, and she definitely hadn't expected to see him this seen. She wasn't even sure she had wanted to see him, but now she was glad he was here.
The said boy raised a brow as he crossed his arms loosely,"Thanks, but no thanks, I am on duty. And so is this guy," he said coldly.
The man sulked, "Oh man, two other toys less to play with," he said, a little whine in his voice. May began to wonder if this man could be called an adult. But then he suddenly cheered up, "Well, I gotta go, toodles!" he said.
Both May and Drew sweatdropped as he swayed away. Then Drew turned to May, "And you've got some explaining to do," he said sternly.
May scraped her throat nervously, "What do you mean? I am one of the kings royal escorts," she said in an as low voice as she could.
Drew rolled his eyes at her, "Yeah, if you're one of the king's men, then I'm the king himself. Don't pull this stunt on me princess, it's not going to work," he said, his voice laced with humour.
May pulled off her helmet to reveal her sulking, "How did you know it was me? And stop calling me princess,"she said grumpily.
Drew smirked at her, "Intuition. Come on, I need to get back to my post," he said.
May followed him to a cloth stretched over a few sticks to hold it up. It was apparent that it was meant if there would be rain, even if there wasn't at the moment. There was also a fire to provide some warmth and light, and May glanced at Drew when he sat down on a fallen log.
Drew looked back at her, unfazed, and then rose a brow, "Sit down, I know it isn't a luxurious chair but it's more comfortable than the ground I believe," he said.
May huffed, and muttered something that sounded a lot like smartass under her breath and crossed her arms, but sat down even so. Drew glanced back over the long fields and the forest, his watches.
"Well, princess, what are you exactly doing here, far away from the safety of the castle and in men's clothes nonetheless and wearing a helmet?" he asked.
May sighed, "My dad didn't allow me to come with him, so I disguised and came secretly," she admitted.
Drew eyed her flatly, "you sneaked out, you mean?" he said but silenced at May's glare. But then he smirked, "He didn't allow you for a reason. These places aren't for young girls like yourself," he said.
May glared annoyed at him, "You're around the same age as I am," she said, accusingly. "Why is it okay for you to be here but not for me?" she asked
Drew threw her an amused glance, "In case it has, I might say predictable, slipped you, I'm male, and you are not. It was decided when you were born," he said.
May growled a little, "I'm not that stupid, I'm just asking what the difference really is!" she whined.
Drew resisted the urge to smack his head, "There's a big difference in strength you can't simply overcome. And there is another, very good reason why genders are different. I can't believe you don't know that much," he said tiredly.
May slammed her hands on the log, and somehow the pressure, both in her feet and hands pushed the log over. It wasn't as stable as originally thought. With a shriek, May closed her eyes as she fell backwards.
"There is no difference at all, it's not fair!" she cried when her bag had collided painfully with the ground. But even before her last words had died, she found Drew keeping her back pressed to the ground. How he didn't fall backwards was a mystery to May, hadn't he been seated on that very same log?
But as such, Drew kept her wrists above her head, a wrist in every hand and his legs were on both of May's sides. As her legs were still hooked around the log, May was stuck.
She felt her face turn red at the very compromising position. In spite of what people thought, May wasn't that naive. Drew's eyes bored into hers, and if they weren't that beautiful shade of green May had closed them for it felt like he was making a hole straight through her head.
"This...my princess, is the difference in strength," Drew said as May struggled to break free to no avail.
Then he leaned in, a smirk playing around his lips, "And that unmistakable red color in your face and that wild thumping of your heart, your highness, is the difference in gender," he said. He leaned in some more until their noses were almost touching, "It's a double-edged sword, my lady. Your opponent can be paralyzed, and so can you," he continued.
May found it hard to breath. Wether it was from the heath of the summernight, the flanders of fire, or the first time of having a body pressed against her, May didn't know. She kept looking up at the young soldier, his words only slowly processing. He was entrancing, and yet his experience of life made him so hard.
"And you know this how?" May asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Drew suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing and pressed himself of the ground, seating himself on the log once again. "I shouldn't have done that, I apologize," he murmured. It was out of character for him to apologize, May knew this, so he must think that he did something terrible. And if she looked at it, it was a wrong move. Technically he did assault his princess, the princess of his country.
"Drew, where did you learn this?" May asked again.
Drew looked away, "I don't want to talk about it," he said. Instead of looking at May, he looked over the fire at the fields. It was now almost dark, the sun nothing more than a glimpse over the horizon.
"Tell me," May said, pressing.
She didn't notice Drew clenching his fist, "Because of my mum, alright?" he said, his voice was choked up.
But May didn't reside with this answer, "Drew, how come?" she asked.
The green-haired soldier hissed slightly through his teeth, "I said I don't want to talk about it!" he said, raising his voice a little bit more.
May frowned; she didn't like it when people kept secrets from her, especcially after asking. "Drew Hayden, I order you to tell me," May said sternly. If he wouldn't tell her on his own, she would use her authority.
Drew glared at her, coldly, hard, "You want to know it that badly, princess?" he asked mockingly, barely keeping back his anger.
"My mother is a whore, princess! She gets payed to sleep with men! It was one of her 'customers' who told me, and showed me. Do you also want to know what it's like to have your mum degraded and screwed in front of your eyes. I know you don't," he spat bitterly.
May sat down next to him, "I'm sorry," she said.
Drew spit on the ground, "It's life, princess. There are very few who can live like you, or even allow themselves to think like you. Hundreds struggle, and many like my mum sell their body. Don't look like that princess," he said, as he saw May's face of disbelieve, and he shook his head. "Grown women, little girls, men, little boys, they are all the same, they share all the same fate. Can you live with that knowledge, princess?"
May kept silent, her eyes in front of her. He spoke truth, but that didn't mean that it was easy to admit.
Then suddenly she heard a sound, so quiet that if it hadn't been that silent, she definitely would have missed it.
"...the moon will watch over you, so don't cry and close your eyes. God will be..."
"I know that song!" May called out, the depressed mood suddenly forgotten.
Drew looked up at her. May's eyes shone, Drew's song was something she remembered, and recognized. He sang it differently, with a lower voice as a woman used to sing it for her, but she knew it. "It's something my nanny used to sing for me. She was so young back then," she said.
Then she glanced at Drew, "how do you know it?" she asked.
Drew shrugged, "My mother used to sing it for me," he said.
May began counting, "I know that nanny was sent away because she had an illegimate child, I was five back then, so I didn't know what was wrong but yeah..." her voice died.
Drew began to think, "I know my mum used to live in the castle once. That's all I know however, I don't remember much from my childhood. I was always passed on, and taken care of by different people through the day,"
Their eyes suddenly met in shock. "You're the child my nanny kept," May whispered.
Also Drew looked shocked, "My mother used to take care of you," he said, more a breathless whipser than anything. May sighed and turned her head away, the night had set now. Drew's face had darkened, "Do you know who my father is then?" he asked.
May looked up, "You don't know that?" she asked in return.
Drew shook his head after a moment of hesistation, "No, my mother never told me..." he said.
May let out a breath, "I'm sorry, I don't know. The only thing I know is that your mother was sent away because she had given birth to a child of a noble-man. But it was kept quiet who that was," she said.
Drew shrugged, "Never mind,"he said. But may couldn't shake off the feeling that he did care.
A moment later an arrow was stuck in the fabric of the cloth above their heads. Drew jumped up and grabbed his sword. "ENEMY!" he shouted at full power. In no time the word was heard from all over the camp.
The young combattant muttered a curse under his breath, "And to think they were so far away still, the other day," he muttered. Then he looked at the brown-haired girl, "Princess, go under the cloth and lay down on the ground. Whatever you hear: don't come out!" Drew said as he pushed May under the cloth.
Just in time as a small 1200 soldiers came running in on them.
Drew saw the enemy coming closer ever so slightly. "Everybody, lead them to the rocks! That's our terrain!" Commander Gar yelled. Every soldier of the king's army left for the appointed rocks. And Drew followed.
''''''''''''
Despite what Drew had said, May was curious and sneaked a peek from underneath her cloth. Just in time as she saw the last few of the combattants leave for the rocks, that was the beginning of the steep mountains a little further. She quickly grabbed her helmet and followed them.
'A real battle!' she thought a little panicked, 'What now!' As would seem appropiate for princesses, she had never as much encountered a real fight.
Then, a few steps away from her, a voice came over the noise. "Ash, what are you doing here, you ain't a soldier," Drew's voice said.
May walked over and saw the two young men crouched next to each other, behind a rock, looking over their shoulder for the enemy. "I'm sure I can be of use!" Ash countered.
Besides them there was a rider, looking a little awkward and misplaced, with a very familiar stance. "Misty!" May called out. The person looked around to see May flying at her.
Misty stopped her quickly. "May, we have to pose as men now. Don't do such thing!" she scolded.
Drew turned around and looked at May agitated, "Do you acutally listen to people sometimes?" he asked. May grinned uncharacteristicly and shook her head. Drew sighed and rubbed his sleep, "I thought so already." Then he looked back at the approaching army. He winced as he saw his outpost reached and trampled on. He was now glad the princess hadn't listened. "This is the best shot we have here, but we are severly undermanned," he said.
May looked up alarmed, not known with militairy tactiques.
Drew frowned, "I'm saying that at this rate every single men of this legion will have at least 10 opponents," he said. "And every one of those warriors are trained equally to us." Then he pressed his lips together for a moment, "We have to redirect their attention to something else, so they can be attacked in the flank and back," he said and stood up.
He then went to Commander Gar. The two were too far to actually catch whatever they were saying but to May it seemed as if they were having an intense argument.
"It's a no, Hayden! We can beat them just like this!" Gar shouted as Drew returned looking vivid.
"That son of a..." he growled between clenched teeth, cathing himself in time as he remembered the princess around.
"Drew, these men will be slaughtered this way right?" Ash asked.
Drew nodded and Ash frowned again, "Then we have to redirect them ourselves," he said. Then he ran away.
Misty sighed and grabbed bow and arrows. May eyed her nervously, "Misty, what are you doing?" she asked.
Misty frowned at her as she fastened the holder on her back, "The best I can, May. I am useless with a sword, but I can shoot with bow and arrow," she said.
May sat down behind the rock. As much as she wanted to deny, she knew she was useless. She laughed nervously, "Where did you learn that then?" she asked.
Misty sighed, and chuckled nervously back, "Before I became your handmaiden, I used to hunt for my family," she grinned cheekily, "On the royal hunting-grounds actually."
May laughed, but already knew she wouldn't report it. But then there was no time left anymore for talking, as the enemy came dangerously close."
"Hold your fire!" Gar shouted. Personally May despised the man. He was quite safe all the way in the back up the rocks, whereas she and a lot of others will be dying in the front. Right at that moment, Ash returned, sitting on a gold-colored horse, with a darkred horse on his hand.
"Drew, hop on!" he said as he threw Drew the reigns. Drew didn't hesistate for a moment and jumped on the horseback. "This is Roselia. A horse with quite an attitude. She's one of the fastest we have. I think you'll like her,"
Drew nodded shortly, "Alright," and pulled the reigns in. Roselia bolted for a moment, and looked back unrestlessly to the unfamiliar weight on her back. Drew rubbed the side of her neck, and the horse seemed to calm a little. May smiled a little at the thought: those calloused hands able to calm such tender creatures.
But then he turned to Ash, "Why are you on the horse?" he asked.
Ash grinned, "I'm going with you, and there is nothing you can do about that,"
Drew sighed, and turned to May, "Goodbye Princess, and be safe," he said calmly, smirking.
May pouted for a second, but then it dawned on her what he was actually planning. "Wait, Drew...you aren't going...?" but Drew grinned at her.
"I am. Say my regards to Gar for me," he laughed. To May it almost seemed as if he was free now. But she found it pretty disconcerting right now.
"Tell him yourself!" she told him.
Drew smirked, "I'll take that as a come back, thanks!" and then he was off, Ash trailing behind.
"...May!" came floating to her.
May smiled, "He learned it," she muttered.
"Hey! What are those two doing!" Gar's voice resounded over the rocks.
Misty laughed, "He looks horribly scandalized, " she said.
"A diversion, that brat...I'm going to help them, they don't stand a chance," another man said, and not long after that an older warrior came past the girls.
May looked at Misty, "They don't stand a chance?" she asked shocked.
But Misty was too shocked to respond.
This simply took too long!
Guys! I'd really appreciate if you'd review. There are a lot who did, and I am really gratefull..but I still get a lot of messages that there are favorites and alerts, yet no reviews! So please, make me happy.