Well here it is, chapter 4! I know some of you have been waiting for the Practice, Practice, Practice song, so here you go, along with the Far Longer Than Forever song. I hope you enjoy it.
I noticed that my chapters were getting shorter and shorter so this one is a bit longer, actually the longest one so far.
Slight language warning for Lovino!
To the story!
Chapter 4
It had been a few months since Arthur went missing. Everyone had given up hope that he was still alive. Except for Alfred. He never stopped searching for him. Every day he would train with Roderich and Lovino, practicing his archery and sword fighting. And every minute he wasn't training he spent either researching this 'great animal' in his castle's library or searching the forests and towns for Arthur.
At this moment he and Roderich were pouring colored powder into two quivers, orange into Alfred's and blue into Lovino's. They were preparing for target practice, Lovino tying a blue blindfold over his eyes.
"The musicians are not happy."
"I know Roderich, but I need to practice," Alfred said as he tied an orange blindfold over his own eyes.
"Oh no complaints here," Roderich not so secretly got some pleasure out of the thought of his musicians dressed up as animals for target practice. He held the bucket of orange powder up, patting the bottom of it to see if he got it all out. "I think it's going to be loads of-" With one hard smack, the powder blew into his face. "...fun."
"The great animal isn't going to give up Arthur without a fight."
Roderich took out a handkerchief, wiping his face free of orange dust. "You still think he's alive?"
"When I find the great animal, I'll find Arthur."
"Alfred..you've looked everywhere. He's not coming back. The whole kingdom knows this."
"The whole kingdom is wrong," the prince pointed to where he thought Roderich might be. "Arthur is alive and I'm going to find him. Ready, Lovino?"
Lovino peeked out from behind his blindfold, letting it fall back over his eyes when Roderich smacked his hand.
"No peeking. Animals assemble!"
And out came the group of musicians dressed as different animals. Now was this necesary? Dressing as animals? Couldn't Alfred practice on them without the costumes? Of course. But this was way more fun.
One of the dressed up musicians, a small Asian man with a long ponytail, spoke up to their conductor. "Roderich, this is ridiculous, we are musicians!"
"The servants had the day off, we had to use someone."
"But I am an artist! Not a boar!"
"Could've fooled me.." Roderich muttered quietly to himself.
Alfred just laughed. "Come on guys, they're harmless!" To prove his point he hit the bottom of his shoe with an arrow, a puff of orange smoke being the only result.
"We are a band and not a band of animals. This masquerade.."
"Is more than I can bear," said a blonde man with sideburns and glasses, Eduard.
"There goes my reputation. It's awful, this humiliation."
Another much smaller blonde boy getting into his duck costume tripped getting into his shoes. When he tripped he fell into his fellow band mates knocking them all over. At the bottom of the pile was a brunette man in a lion suit, yawning.
"And I've the lion's share.."
Roderich stood by the two princes ready for practice, holding a string attached to their blindfolds. "Down on all fours please, and growl ferociously!"
But the 'animals' just stood there defiantly with their arms crossed.
"Liven it up a bit! I want you to strike fear into my heart!"
The only one to roar was the young boy with the bunny ears. He had ruffled red hair and blue eyes, a scar painted onto the right side of his face and across his nose. It wasn't real of course, he just thought it made him look cooler.
Roderich jumped back in fear and surprise at such a big sound coming from such a small boy.
"Not you, Erland, you're a rabbit for heaven's sake!"
"Archers, ready...set...GO!" He pulled the string, pulling the blindfolds off the two princes. Lovino took a minute to regain himself, feeling dizzy being suddenly able to see. Alfred however immediately began shooting at any animal he could, one after another hitting one and marking them with an orange spot. Once Lovino managed to get his bow from around his neck he set his sights on the rabbit, it being worth the most points. But every time he tried to shoot him he would either miss or the bunny would hit it back at him.
Behind a makeshift wall were about four of the animals, three of them looking over the edge to see if it was safe to come out. When they saw an orange arrow coming for them they yelled "Duck!" and ducked down behind their barrier. However the duck, Ravis, thought they were calling him and poked his head above the wall. "What?" This resulted in him getting hit in the beak.
Overseeing the training on a balcony of the palace was Queen Elizaveta having tea with other nobles.
"Day after day all the prince ever does is practice, practice, practice."
Elizaveta sang after the nobles. "Thinking of him and the way that it was."
"Practice, practice, practice."
Just as the queen was about to take a sip of tea an arrow came flying past shattering her cup. Soon following was Ravis running on the terrace to escape more arrows.
"He's not happy 'til he has attacked us!"
Alfred continued to shoot as many animals as he could as fast as possible, the nobles now watching the show.
Roderich called out, holding an hourglass. "Twelve seconds!"
"Day after day all the prince ever does is practice, practice, practice. Thinking of him and the way that it was. Practice, practice, practice."
"Five seconds!"
"If we refused then he would have sacked us. So we face a life of target.."
"Practice, practice, practice!"
At the last second Alfred shot an arrow at Erland the rabbit just as he jumped into a bush.
"Time! Animals, assemble for counting." Roderich unrolled a piece of parchment to take down the score as his orchestra lined up, a couple of them limping and almost all of them covered in orange spots. He first approached Ravis the duck as he collapsed to the ground. "Well, you got plenty of 5 pointers."
Alfred laughed quiltily. "Eheheheh...Sorry, Ravis, how about you take the day off."
"Moose are worth 2 points, 16 shots, that's 32. Ten 7 pointers, fourteen 3 pointers, that all comes out to 298 points. Well done, Alfred!"
While Roderich counted, Lovino was leaned up against a tree next to the rabbit. Every now and then he hit the small boy with his blue arrow. Always the cheater, aren't ya Lovi? Let's see if you'll win this time.
"Now Lovino, for you we have..zero. You didn't shoot a single one of them." The Italian prince simply shrugged, smirking knowingly.
"And now for the elusive 100-point white rabbit." Needless to say Roderich was shocked to see three blue spots on the child.
"I believe that's 300, Roderich~"
"Good shooting, Lovino," Alfred let him have his moment for now.
"Well go on, write it down, 300 to 298~"
"Ah actually," the blonde interupted. "I believe you missed a spot." He motioned for Erland to turn around, revealing an orange spot just under his tail. Again, even when he cheats, Lovino still loses.
"Sigh..You're a great marksman, Alfred. One of the best. But it takes more than good aim, you need courage. Which I have a lot of."
Roderich looked up from his paper annoyed at Lovino's bragging. "If you're so brave, how about a game of Catch and Fire?"
Lovino could talk big all day. But when it came down to it, he was a big coward. "C-C-Catch and Fire? Me?"
"Well of course, you're the only one with enough c-c-courage after all."
Catch and Fire is a training excersize Roderich invented himself. Lovino will have to fire an arrow at Alfred's back and hope that he turns around in time to catch it. Once Alfred catches it, he has to fire it back at Lovino, hitting an apple that will be tied to the top of his head. So you can imagine a few things that can go wrong.
Roderich was currently tying the apple on Lovino's head with a string while Alfred waited with his back turned to them.
"Chigi! Too tight, asswhipe!"
"Oops, so sorry~" He wasn't sorry at all.
"Are you guys ready?"
"He's ready! Now Lovino, remember to aim for the heart. Right between the shoulders."
"Yeah yeah I got it.."
The Italian took aim, his hands and arms shaking. He was about to shoot at his best friend, and a prince at that. And with his nerves and bad aim there is a lot that could go wrong.
Alfred readied himself, preparing to spin around and catch the arrow. He was feeling confident, but still a little nervous. But he trusted his friend and that was part of the exercise. "Come on Lovino, hold it steady.."
After some mental arguing with himself Lovino lets his arrow fly. "Shit!"
Alfred could hear the arrow cutting through the air, flying towards him. When he felt the time was right he spun around and caught the arrow, quickly aiming it back and shooting the apple dead center. Roderich caught the half of the apple that flew at him and Lovino dropped down to his knees in relief that neither of them got shot.
"52 out of 52! Well done, Alfred! Excellent show of courage, Lovino. Just think, one inch lower and that arrow would have.." Roderich let the thought hang, grinning when Lovino fainted.
Ignoring their antics, Alfred looked off into the sunset thinking of his missing love again.
Having Arthur taken away from him changed his whole outlook. It wasn't his beauty he missed. It was the competitions to see who could shoot more bullseyes, Arthur was a fantastic archer. It was the games they would play together, Arthur always beat him but he loved to play anyway. He missed arguing with Arthur, he missed being forced to try his awful cooking, and he missed seeing those rare smiles. He shouldn't have let him leave that day. It was true that you don't know what you have until it's gone.
"Don't lose hope Arthur...Wherever you are, I'll find you."
"You've had some dumb ideas before, Francis, but this one takes the cake.
"Quiet, I am trying to concentrate."
Next to the moat of Swan Lake was Francis the frog and Antonio the turtle. Francis was currently connecting cattail reeds to make one long pole.
Francis was once the lord of Swan Lake before Ivan came along all those years ago and Antonio was sort of his assistant, like Roderich is Elizaveta and Alfred's councilor. They could only become human again once Ivan was dead. But Francis had another method in mind.
"You laugh now but when my plan succeeds, he will kiss me and I will-"
"And you'll turn back into a lord, I know I know, you've told me. Why don't you just give him these flowers?" The turtle gestures to some purple water arum flowers next to him.
"How clueless you are in the art of love. I don't want these flowers, I must have those." Francis points to a group of the exact same flowers across the moat. Across the gater filled moat. "Once he learns I have risked my life for them, the kissing will not stop."
"And you'll change back into a human."
"Precisely."
"Mind if I point out a problem?"
"I don't take advice from peasants."
"Suit yourself."
Francis jumped into a nearby tree with his cattail pole ready to pole vault over the water to the other side, the gaters preparing for dinner. The frog repeated a mantra to himself, "Flowers, kiss, concentration," before sticking his pole into the ground, about to bounce over.
"Just a thought..How are you going to get back?"
Francis realized his mistake too late and was flung to the water, never letting go of the cattails. He sprang back and forth for a while, Antonio trying to catch him but never being in the right spot.
"Move up! Move up! No, not that close!" At some point the plant stopped moving but he continued to flail around and panic. "Grab me grab me! Hold my arm, hold my leg! Hold it hold it hold it.." He slowly came to realize that he was no longer in danger, the blonde bushy-eyed prince holding the reed down. The green animal finally let go and landed on the ground.
"Oh merci Arthur, merci. May I have that?" As soon as he had the reed pole in hand he released it, smacking one of the alligators right in the face. "Take that you savages!" He was feeling pretty big until the pole sprang back and squished him into the dirt.
Arthur tried not to laugh at his misfortune. "Are you ok? Francis?"
"Oui oui Arthur, yes, I'm alright," said the frog as he peeled himself off the ground.
The prince had actually been there for a few minutes but he wanted to enjoy the show a bit before stepping in. It's not that he liked seeing Francis get hurt, he just..alright he did get a little enjoyment out of it, it was hard to find entertainment around here. "What exactly were you trying to do?"
"I wanted to get those flowers for you."
"You're being sneaky again aren't you?" Arthur was no fool and this wasn't the first time the frog tried something romantic with him.
"What's sneaky? You deserve a nice bouquet."
"And I suppose you deserve a kiss."
"Well if you insist," he puckered up at the prince.
"Not me, you git! You know I'm under a spell."
"But my kiss will break the spell!"
"I can only kiss the one I love, who knows what would happen if it was with anyone else. And then they-"
"Must make a vow of everlasting love, I know."
"And prove it to the world."
"What do you think I was just doing with the flowers and the alligators going 'chomp chomp'?!"
"Sigh...Antonio, can't you make him understand? You know him better than I do."
"I am only a turtle, mi amigo. Si, I was once human, but according to a certain someone around here I am clueless in the ways of love."
Arthur couldn't exactly say that he knew more about love than either of them. They're both much older than him and before they were put under their own spells they probably had been in relationships. Arthur's love was very new. Being separated from Alfred hadn't done this before. He never felt this way when summer would end and they parted ways. Then again he knew he would just see him again the following summer. But now the situation was different. There was no guarantee that they would ever see each other again. The last time he left Alfred's kingdom he had been upset with him over this answer of 'what else is there'. But being trapped at Swan Lake under a spell all this time gives a person a lot of time to think. Thinking that he might never see Alfred again made him realize how much he missed him and how much he wanted to see him.
He remembered before he was kidnapped that Gilbert, his father's captain of the guards, had gone back to get help. Did that mean that they were looking for him? Was Alfred coming to rescue him? It was like a fairytail, waiting for his prince to come and save him from evil. Or had they given up, thinking he was dead? But Arthur knew Alfred better than that. He knew he wasn't the type to give up so easily.
"If I could break this spell, I'd run to him today," sang Arthur. "And somehow I know he's on his way to me. Alfred, you and I were meant to be."
The prince got up from his spot next to the animals, walking down a set of stone steps closer to the lake.
"Far longer than forever..I'll hold you in my heart. It's almost like you're here with me although we're far apart."
In Alfred's kingdom on the palace grounds, the prince went for a walk under the stars, unknowingly singing the same words. "Far longer than forever. As constant as a star. I close my eyes and I am where you are." He held Arthur's gold necklace in his hand, clutching it tightly wishing he could be by his side right now.
"Sure as the dawn brings the sunrise, we've an unshakable bond."
"Destined to last for a lifetime and beyond. Far longer than forever."
"Far longer than forever."
"I swear that I'll be true."
"I swear that I'll be true."
"I've made an everlasting vow to find a way to you," they sang simultaneously.
"Far longer than forever. Like no love ever known. And with your love I'll never be alone."
"Far longer than forever.."
"Much stronger than forever.."
"And with your love I'll never be alone..." Arthur finished.
There you go! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
If you didn't know who the animals in the band were, here are the characters:
the bear - Estonia (Eduard)
the lion - Greece
the duck - Latvia (Ravis)
the boar - China (Yao)
the rabbit - Ladonia (Erland)
I realize I didn't mention Greece's name in the scene so unless you understood the yawning cuz he sleeps all the time I realize it would be harder to guess who he was since I mentioned names for everyone else.
Also I've been thinking about doing a PruCan 50 First Dates fic, if you'd be interested in that let me know!
Review please! See you next time!