Six months later, it's the middle of Spring, my group rose up in numbers from five to thirty, and our farmhouse was too small and we needed to something bigger to house us all, so the 27 of them had packed up their stuff and moved East. I stayed behind because there was two unaccounted for and I was waiting for them to return from the hunt. It was a good thing that I decided to move them out today, because the King's Guard had ordered a raid on our old establishment, but found that it was empty. I know this because those two stragglers who were left behind finally showed and I had them climb a tree. I also had them hide their catch in the same tree, unfortunately for me they had caught a deer, and a dead deer is a very heavy pound of flesh, but between the three of us, we got it into the tree and hid it from view. The other two climbed up next and situated themselves in the tree just like the deer, and it was a good thing too, because as soon as they were in the tree did I see the scouts of the King's Guard. The tree we hid in was a very big oak tree that was near the house.

I wasn't fast enough to cover our tracks, but I did my best in the short amount of time before the King's Guard came into view. The moment the King's Guard came into view, I jumped up at the tree's bark from about three feet away, and my crew was in awe at prowess under pressure, but I shushed them with a wave of a hand, and had them watch the Guard in case we needed to bolt without the prey.

The King's Guard consisted of one plattoon, which had one Commander, whom I knew, two Captains, nope - didn't know them, and about thirty soldiers. The Commander issues orders to the Captains who barked out orders to the others, and ordered them to find the rebels or of anything suspicious. I had to reign-in my mischievous side, so as not to cause any trouble for my two comrades who were hiding with me in the tree. I really had to reign it in when two soldiers came near the tree, and not to spook them, but if I was alone - I probably would have done it, and really let loose on my training. I couldn't do it with so many people nearby in case they recognized me or something. I brought my thoughts back to those two soldiers who were talking about random stuff, but one thing did stick to me, ok, maybe two, but I was really interested in what they were saying.

Soldier #1: "So, why are we here again, searching for these ghost rebels?"

Soldier #2: "We're here, because the King, himself, ordered it. Apparently, one of his prospective soldiers had been called in for a review for a position to the King's Guard, but caused havoc on her way out, so the King wants retribution for the death of his two guards."

Soldier #1: "Her? A female? A female killed two of the King's Guard. Wow."

Soldier #2: "Yes, a female. She was the top of her squad for three years straight and made Captain in her first year there."

Soldier #1: "So, why do you think she ran?"

Soldier #2: "I don't know, maybe it was because the main objective was too hard, but I don't think that was the case. Either way, we have our orders to capture her and her band of rebels alive."

Soldier #1: "... alive, huh? How boring."

Soldier #2: "I agree, but I did hear something about the rogue soldier's family, especially about her younger sister who was pregnant."

Soldier #1: "Oh, yeah? What?"

Soldier #2: "Apparently she went nuts on the soldiers who were bad - talking about her sister, saying that her sister probably had no other choice but to execute her plan in that kind of fashion, or something like that."

Commander: "Or something, or maybe these two soldiers would like to share their thoughts with the rest of the group? No? Then get back to work, or I'll be very angry, and you don't want that, now do you?"

Soldiers #1 & #2: "Sir, no, sir!"

The Commander watched them leave and proceeded to follow them when he heard a shuffling sound in the tree behind him, and he whipped around and looked up, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. He walked up to the base of the tree, and looked up into the tree, and saw a deer - a dead deer - in the tree with no rope to indicate it being drained of blood, so he came to the conclusion that there was some rebels in the tree, but before he could shout out to the other soldiers - a noose came around his throat, and cut off his shout. The Commander was being risen from the ground to the tree, but he quickly grabbed his knife and cut the rope.

Two of the three rebels that were in the tree - fell out - and took off toward the direction that their leader had told them to go which was East, and their leader, which was me, had dropped down and knocked out the Commander, and proceeded to run West toward the city, so that they don't know to follow the other two smaller targets. They followed the bait as fast as they could in the panic that I ensured by knocking out their Commander first. I made sure they saw my face, and made them run around in circles trying to find me, and I ended up back at the barracks where I knocked them out in their confusions, plus they were tired from the run around that I had them doing. I barely broke a sweat from the run, and man, did I have fun, but I wasn't done yet, because here come the two Captains.

The Commander came to about thirty minutes later, and walked through the barracks to find me just finishing off the Captains. They put up quite the fight, and got a couple of good hits in, they even bruised a couple of my ribs, but they got over-confident toward the end and that is when I got them. I tied them together, and tossed them on the pile of other bodies, and I took a quick breath. I turned around to notice the Commander standing there - dumbstruck - at how easily I took out his subordinates in less than thirty minutes.

I smiled at him and stood in a defensive position, readying myself for the Commander who was getting into position himself. I knew that this battle was going to be hard, and I was on a time - limit, because others could be back at any moment. So, I analyzed him and found that he put most of his weight on his right leg which means that his left leg must be hurting from when he landed after cutting the rope that was around his neck. He glared at me for destroying his men, and for leading them back to the barracks. He felt embarrassed for this humiliation that had befallen him and his men. He attacked first, and I ended him, by stepping swiftly to the side, and kicking him in his left leg which made grunt and buckle from the pain, and I chopped at the back of his neck effectively knocking him out, but before he lost consciousness, I said, "Weaklings will always remain weak."

I used the same words that he used on me when I first enlisted and joined his squad, and he was already like this before King Slade ruled the land, now he is just annoying. He did inspire me to work harder without actually saying anything so as not to show favoritism, and work harder is what I did.

My task was to buy time, and I did it flawlessly, and now that it is done, so I needed to leave or else I was going to get caught. As I started to leave the building, I noticed a recorder nearby and decided to send my report in via recording. I made sure to say that this was addressed only for the king and his Men in the beginning, and then I proceeded to report my findings. I told the King, in code, that it appears there are no rebels in this sector, so I was going to lead my crew to the next town, and see if I could locate them there. I, also, said that I apologized for knocking out that plattoon that was sent to the farm, but now I feel that they will take orders seriously from now on.

I ended the tape and posted it on the door to the barracks with a little sign saying, "Play me for the King". I was going to write on there with an or else, but I didn't want to sound cliche, so I just left it there.

I left the compound the same way I entered which was through the front door, because no one guards the front doors. I don't know why no one guards this entry point, but I guess that is just one of those unspoken but everyone knows about them rules. Anyway, I left the compound, but not the city, because I needed to make sure that they sent my report in and I was curious about who they sent over to check on the plattoon for mission details. Turns out it was the King himself who stopped by on one of daily walks around the grounds, which means he's flanked by four of his Guardsmen, and two dogs. Two of the Guardsmen entered first, then called out the all-clear signal, and the King entered next with the two remaining Guardsmen standing guard with the two dogs. I waited twenty minutes and I was about to leave when I saw that the King had rushed outside and started to look around as if he were searching for something or someone. He see's a tree near the gate and nods at what he thinks is my general location, which was a good guess, but I on a buiding over-looking the barracks, but still in the general area. He smiles like he needed reassurance of my loyalty or something. I grinned and took off toward my crew who lied about three leagues east of the city.

It took me about a day and a half, but I found them. They looked like they were arguing amongst themselves, and with each other on whether or not they should go back for me or to keep moving. I stayed hidden for about five minutes, then made myself known. They all looked relieved to see me, alive and unscathed, at least, visibly unscathed. My ribs were very painful especially when I breathe too deeply. I needed to rest, but we were out in the open with no shelter in sight and the next town was still about a two days march from here. I calmed them down, and told them what was the next motion of the plan. We were to continue moving east until we find either shelter or something with a vehicle so that we can move faster. They all had sighed, and started to move out. I sense that tonight was going to be draining but its only until we can find some shelter, but until then I can only hope that the mood doesn't dwindle too far down, or I'm going to have to stop some fights. Sigh. Please end today on a good note and find us some shelters.