A/N: I'm sorry I'm so rubbish at thisssss! I wanted to post this a few days ago, but my wifi was not being convenient to me:/ Hopefully this chapter doesn't completely suck.
Sidenote, has anyone seen that pic of Aubrey's name on a whiteboard in the mass of Pitch Perfect 2 pics that have emerged? I hope they aren't just teasing us! I mentally flipped out in joy when I saw that:O Can't have Pitch Perfect 2 without Aubrey! Or any of the main three girls! Hell, just make a movie with Aubrey, Beca, and Chloe and I'd be happy. They don't even have to do anything, just have them sit there and eat crackers for all I care. I'd be so happy.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own it, unfortunately. Used to, but the girls didn't want to sit there for an hour and a half and fufill my cracker-eating plot, so. *shrugs*
"Omfh."
Beca fell to the hallway floor with a quiet thud, a look of mild annoyance crossing her face as she stood and brushed herself off. She turned to peer down from the window she had just come through. "I said hoist me up gently," she whisper-shouted to the group below, specifically Fat Amy, who had rather unceremoniously launched her through the palace window.
"You wanted up, I got you up," the blonde whispered back with a shrug. She turned to the rest of the group. "Who's next?"
With Fat Amy lifting the girls to the window, and Beca helping them into the castle, the Bellas made it inside in record time, Cynthia Rose and Denise helping to pull Amy up through the window afterward. Once they were all safely in, Beca resumed leading the group, pressing her finger to her lips.
With the stealth and silence of well-practiced bandits, they crept quickly through the castle, peering around every corner and down every hallway to watch for guards. When they reached the heart of the castle, Beca put her hand out to halt the group, and they all held their breath as they heard a couple of male guards speaking just around the corner.
"Do you think the king's plan'll even work?" one man asked doubtfully.
"I dunno, how could it not?" the other guard responded. "He's got basically all the men stationed in the treasury. The Bellas won't know what hit 'em, and there's no way they can take all of the guards at once. Plus, even if they do get away, he's got all the valuable stuff hidden in his chambers. The Bellas aren't getting anything tonight."
Beca smirked at the king's predictability, casting a silent grin and thumbs up to the rest of the Bellas behind her.
"Man, I dunno why we can't be stationed in the treasury too," the other man responded with a groan. "I don't wanna be stuck standing outside the grand hall playing babysitter, I want in on the action too!"
"Quit whining," the other guard responded, though their voices were beginning to fade out as they went further down the hall. Beca was just able to make out something about protecting the royal family in the grand hall before the voices went out of earshot, and the bandit shook her head with a chuckle. Royals really were too predictable.
The Bellas were able to find their way to the royal chambers without anymore interruptions, and Beca silently turned the knob and pushed the door open to the king and queen's room, peering around cautiously. Deeming the room safe from any guards or royals, the brunette ushered everyone in, quietly shutting the door once the last Bella had entered.
"Okay, grab as much as you can, as fast as you can. Two minutes," Beca instructed in a loud whisper, watching the girls fan out around the room to scout for any treasures they could find. "Anything that looks valuable probably is. Don't grab anything that'll weigh you down too much though; doesn't matter what you're able to loot if we can't make it out alive with it."
While the Bellas claimed the valuables they could, Beca peered around the room analytically, wondering where they could have placed the infamous Mortix Elixir. Contemplating briefly what to do, she pressed her ear to the door, making sure no one was coming before she stepped away from the door and began to quickly scour the room, grabbing random valuables off shelves and stuffing them in her rucksack as she went.
On her second walk around the chamber, she stopped as she noticed an odd outline, a small square, on the floor in the far corner of the room. The lines were barely visible, blending in nicely with the floorboard pattern, and Beca shouldered her bag as she knelt down to tap her knuckles against it, her lip upturning as she heard the hollowness beneath it. Her suspicions were confirmed when she pried at the corners, revealing a small secret compartment where a few tiny vials of clear liquid were lying. The Mortix Elixir.
Beca grinned widely at her find, carefully snatching up the vials and slipping them into the hidden pocket inside her tunic. Once she was sure they were secure, she closed the compartment again, standing and heading back to her post at the door to listen for people and watch the other bandits.
However, she was not anticipating the door to fly open, and her eyes barely caught a glimpse of fiery red before a soft body collided with her own.
While Chloe was quite the free spirit, never one to let herself be kept down by royal standards and expectations, she was still a girl defying her parents, and the redhead knew she most certainly did not want to be caught snooping around when her father specifically told her to stay in the grand hall.
So when she heard a couple of guards quietly conversing as they approached, Chloe quite comically darted around the nearest corner, pressing her back against the wall. Their footsteps seemed to be going in the direction she had just come from, and she listened in to their muttered conversation curiously while she waited for them to pass.
"Quit whining," one voice stated, sounding slightly annoyed with the other guard. "Protecting the royal family in the grand hall is just as important. We're protecting the most valuable things in the castle; the other guards are protecting cheap replicas and decoys. Think about it."
"I guess you're right," the other guard responded with a sigh. "I never looked at it that way."
"Of course I'm right," the first one said smugly. "Now c'mon, we were supposed to be at our post like five minutes ago."
As the voices faded off, Chloe couldn't help but grin at her luck, realizing those were the guards that were supposed to be watching the grand hall entrance. No wonder there were no guards to stop her from leaving the room; if she had been five minutes slower, her rebellious exploration may have been halted.
Taking a quick peek around the corner to make sure the coast was clear, Chloe began down the hallway once more, keeping herself on high alert for anyone who may be also be lurking. However, there didn't seem to be anyone else around, no sign of any guards or bandits as far as she was concerned, and the light click of her heels was the only sound she could hear in the maze of hallways.
Suddenly a mass of footsteps began to echo thunderously, approaching at an alarming rate; Chloe silently panicked, running to the first room she saw as she tried to cushion her footsteps. Despite her attempts, her shoes clicked at a cringe-worthy volume, and she briefly wondered why she ever thought this was a good idea, and why the hell she hadn't thought to slip her shoes off, as she shoved hurriedly through the doors. However, her heart leapt in surprise as she suddenly collided with a small tunic-clad torso, whose arms instinctively moved to catch the redhead and steady both of them. The body felt soft and lithe beneath her own, smelling of earth and grass, and the princess' eyes snapped up to be met with the slim outlining of a surprised face shadowed beneath a big black hood.
"Wha-...w-who are you?" Chloe stuttered, breathless from her running. Were these the dreaded bandits her dad had been talking about? The hooded figure didn't answer, instead removing their hands quickly from the redhead and cursing under their breath as they realized the girl currently pressed against them was in fact the princess of the castle they were invading.
"Bellas, fall back!" the bandit ordered to the other hooded figures in the room, and Chloe was surprised at the stranger's feminine voice. "We need to-"
The doors suddenly burst open again, and the prince stood in the doorway, a few knights behind him. Seeing a hooded figure in front of Chloe, Tom grabbed the readied bow and arrow from the guard next to him.
"Don't worry princess, I'll save you!" he hollered, cocking the arrow back and sloppily aiming it before letting it fly, not seeming to care at all if he hit the redhead. Chloe gasped at this before she was suddenly thrown to the side by the stranger, pain flaring through her wrist as she landed unceremoniously on the floor. She looked up to see the stranger clutch their shoulder, arrow angrily protruding from it; the hooded figure suddenly lunged forth, launching all their body weight into Tom to tackle him out of the room. The prince fell back into the hallway with a grunt, and the stranger slammed the doors shut, pressing their body against the doors as the guards began banging on it from the other side.
"Bellas, retreat!" the stranger ground out, still cradling their shoulder as they held the door shut. The other bandits hesitated.
"But-" another bandit started to protest.
"I'll be fine! GO!" the stranger shouted through clenched teeth, desperately using all their force to hold the door, which was now bouncing with the force of the guards slamming from the other side.
Chloe watched, frozen in place as the other hooded figures quickly slipped out the window with practiced ease, and the assumed leader checked to make sure the whole group had made it out before letting out a sigh, allowing their hold on the door to relent. The door flew open immediately, and the small figure was flung to the floor with a groan of pain. Their hood flew off back as their head made impact with the floor, and a gasp escaped Chloe's throat as she saw the petite female's face; steel navy eyes flew up to meet Disney blue, and the stunned princess' face was the last thing the bandit saw before the guards were on her, and everything went black.
A/N: ...Well, what did you think? What do you think'll happen next? Constructive criticism? Things I could improve on? Thoughts on the weather? Editing pointers? Tell me:3
Random question (do you guys even like my random questions? That wasn't the random question though, that was another random... random question.) how do you guys eat your pancakes? I'm genuinely curious; I always thought everyone had syrup on their pancakes, and people were just exaggerating that Canadians had syrup on lots of things, but this british guy I met had powdered sugar or something on his pancakes and I was just all "whaaaa... what is this witchcraft? No syurp?" So now I'm curious! How do you eat your pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc? I have syrup and butter on mine (which I thought was standard for everyone until recently xP I'm such a stereotypical Canadian haha).
REVIEW RESPONSES:
Reda V: Haha dont worry, I could never forget my fandom! My fandom IS my life:3 I'm on summer break right now, so I'm not in school at the moment, but I still find that school knocked the inspiration right out of me either way heh. The struggles of a writer xP
ballpointmf: Thanks, glad you like it so far. Sorry for the wait; hope this chapter didn't suck too much:P
wishgrantingfactories: I'm happy to hear you find it interesting so far! Hopefully I can keep it that way and maintain that interesting...ness xP
Defying-gravy: Haha I like your username xP I'm glad to hear you find my story interesting! Sorry for the wait for this chapter:P
blue-wasabi24: Heh, aww, that's kind of a really sad but sweet story. The name of the restaurant has sentimental value to you, even if the place itself doesn't:3 Have you ever been curious, even in passing thought, of going to find and eat at blue wasabi, after referencing it's name so much? Just wondering:)
Kartoffel: Heh, well you don't get much of them meeting in this chapter, but their worlds do collide in this one, no pun intended:P Next chapter will have a bit interaction though, I swear. Shipper's honor:3
YouJustGotPitchSlapped: Thanks for the reassurances; glad to know my writing hasn't completely gone to rubbish yet xP Sorry for the wait (again) for this chapter; hopefully the next one's up a bit faster, heh.
Ezri Dax: Thank you for the characterization tips! I was actually planning on doing that kind of thing with Tom's character, haha; how did you know? (probably cuz it's been done before and I'm somewhat cliche xP) I'm hoping - and slightly stressing out because of it - that I can get such characterizing down for him, cuz I want it to be believable. Mehhhh. I'm only having him act/put on a front in the presence of the King though, which is why he was still being all arrogant in the last chapter. Thank you so much for your help and such though; I appreciate any constructive criticism I can get:3
Over Worked Witch: Glad to hear my writing hasn't completely gone to rubbish yet; thanks for the reassurance:3 I definitely agree too; Chloe and Beca totes made out at the end of Pitch Perfect. Ain't nobody got time for Jesse:O I liked your thought behind your username haha; someone could ask about an update and you could just be all 'didn't you read my username?' xD Much like haha.
London In Terror: Hmm, if it's a good enough song to have a username dedicated to it, it must be pretty awesome; maybe I'll have to check it out:3
RadforR: Heh, well they kinda meet in this one. But not really. Sorry xP Next chapter though, I swear! Shipper's honor:3
cxcxcx386: Thank you, I'm very glad to hear that I've got the characterization down pretty well; I always worry about that:3 Haha you don't need to be shy to ask me things, I ask my readers random questions all the time, so I'd have to be open to answering some myself, eh? ;P I agree; username and password creating has become quite ridiculous; needs capitals and lowercase and numbers and letters and symbols and mountains and deserts and at least seven cat breeds. Like my gosh, I just want to create ONE account xD Ain't nobody got time for this!