Hazel was certainly more clever than Arthur had thought. Well...sneaky was more like it. She had proven herself to be good at conversation and gaslighting and climbing a tree or two. Everybody had their special abilities or advantages. Some even had many. But Hazel seems to only have one: Her mouth. Arthur knew there was no doubt that she would win first prize when it came to assertiveness. Boy was she good at it. But that was all she was good at...he thought.

"Oh no no no!" Arthur called out as he headed down the castle hallway with his hands gripping his yellow hair. He had misplaced the precious sword from the stone, and all afternoon he had been running up and down the castle, opening and closing each door in search of it. Even though he rarely unsheathed it, he still had to carry it around everywhere, despite how heavy it was. "T-t-this can't be happening!" he let out as he quickly busted open the doors to one of the hundreds of rooms in the castle . This one happened to be his late mother's treasury room. He had only stepped foot in it once when he had first been crowned and got lost in the palace. He gasped when he opened the door. There, he saw Hazel digging through a box of jewelry and loading some of it into her green satchel. "What are you doing here!?" he exclaimed.

"Uh-oh...," the fourteen year old said quietly as she froze and dropped the green bag. "He he he hey there Arthur," she said with a nervous smile. The blonde squinted at her. "Alright, this ain't what it looks like alright?"

"Were you stealing that?" he asked.

"Alright maybe it is what it looks like." Hazel admitted, trying to think of how she could outsmart this little fool.

"You were gonna steal that!" he yelled as he tried grab the jewelry back from her but Hazel quickly backed away and lowered the trinkets out of his reach.

"Woah woah woah woah!" Hazel said quickly. She glued her back to the cold stone wall. She hid the handful of jewelry behind her back."No need to be rude," Hazel said. "Not yet anyway." she muttered.

"You little thief!" Arthur yelled.

"Hey, no need for name calling and I'd watch it if I were you: I may be short, but I'm wiry."Hazel shot back.

"You were stealing that!" he repeated.

"Oh don't be ridiculous. Why would I want to ste-"

"Cut the act Hazel, I know what you did."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I saw you leave last night. With a bag full of loot! Now hand it over!"

"Hey hands to yourself!" Hazel sneered. "You wanna fight me? Cause if you do it'll be my pleasure. But I think we know how well that went two days ago." Hazel sneered.

"I don't believe you."

"Believe it, your royal high knee. I wasn't stealing it, I was puttin' it back! You want it? 'Cause if you do it's all yours!" Hazel snapped as she harshly threw the pile of jewelry at him. Arthur didn't catch any of it and let the miscellaneous pile of valuables scatter all over the floor. Beads bounced, rings rolled and necklaces wiggled around like small golden snakes and then stopped. Arthur looked up at the agitated girl.

"You were...putting it back?" the nearly thirteen year old boy asked quietly.

"Yeah," she sighed as she scratched her head. "I've figured I've already stolen enough." she said quietly.

"Sorry I thought you were a thief." Arthur said quite ashamed.

"Eh, it's alright. Not the first time and certainly not the last time I've heard that," Hazel moved her waxy fringe out of her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh I uh...I'm looking for something."

"Like what?"

"Well...don't tell anybody...but I may or may not have lost the-."

"Sword from the stone?" Hazel interrupted.

"Yes...how did you know? Have you seen it?"

"Long, shiny, with a gold hold?" Arthur nodded. "Yeah I've seen it. I saw it in a pawn shop last night."

"In a pawn shop!? Oh no! T-t-they're gonna kill me when they figured I've lost it!" Arthur said as he began to panic and grip his hair.

"Hey look at the bright side: It'll make somebody pretty good money." Hazel said as she put her hands behind her head and smirked as she watched Arthur continue to panic and pace around.

"I have to get it back somehow!"

"Pff! That shop is miles away! And if you think you can get it back without anybody knowing you've lost it, then you have my pity."

"But I have to get it back tonight or I'm a dead-kid!" he said as he got up and headed towards the door.

"Woah woah, wait one second Arthur," Hazel protested as the boy turned back around to face her. "This is no job for you. This calls for a professional."

"You?" Arthur tried but failed to say in a condescending tone. True, Hazel had a talent of sneaking in and sneaking out, but that was when she had been turned into a squirrel. Being a human was a bit different.

"Correct." she said proudly.

"But...but you're... well... a girl."

"I'd hate to burst your sexist bubble, so I'll play along. You're something even worse: A boy. Now do you want the sword back or don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Arthur exclaimed eagerly.

"Well then that settle is. I just need to know one thing."

"What?"

"Are you afraid of heights?"


As nightfall neared, Arthur obeyed Hazel's instructions to visit her room after accepting her aid. Upon arrival, he discovered that she had reverted to her original ragged attire. Although he was perplexed by this, he was yet to experience the full extent of his bewilderment. His amazement was profound when Hazel opened a window, slid out of it, proceeded to crawl out onto the ledge and then commanded him to do the same. Now Arthur found himself yet again on the ledge of the castle, about 70 feet in the air, hugging the wall for dear life.

"O-o-o-on second thought Hazel," the boy trembled as he looked at the deadly drop below them. "I think I-i-i-i'll take the penalty f-f-f-for this."

"Oh come on you scaredy King," she teased. "It is perfectly safe as long as you follow this one rule: Don't fall."

"Gee thanks." he muttered sarcastically.

"Any time," Hazel said quite annoyed with his cowardice. "Now hurry up, we've got about three miles to cover and if we stay at this pace, it'll take us all night. We gotta hurry up before it's over."

"Before the night's over or before my life is over?" Arthur inquired before he glanced at the massive drop, which appeared even more daunting and extended now. His fixation on the precipice caused him to lose his balance, and he started slipping. Hazel quickly snatched a loose brick, leaned forward, and seized the collar of his shirt, yanking him back up. The tween quickly swung his ratty arms around Hazel's torso, gripped her clothing and after declaring her as his new wall to cling onto, did not let go. Hazel blushed.

"It's ok Arthur," she said through a smile with a little giggle. "We're not gonna fall," the redhead assured. She grabbed one his hands and gently pulled him along. "Now Come on!" Hazel led them both to where the ledge met a forest of trees. Arthur seemed to be pretty comfortable with tree climbing, and Hazel, having lived most of her life as a squirrel seemed to be at complete ease. She climbed a few branches higher than him to see if she could get a good view of where to go. Meanwhile Arthur had discovered the branch he was walking on seemed to be a bit un-sturdy. It was bending under his weight. However he still believed that he could make it across, without Hazel jumping down on it to yell at him and break it.

"Hazel!" he called up to the ginger who was so high up in the tree, he could barely see her. "Hazel!" he called again. This time the girl heard him, but not clear enough. So she hopped down a few branches to try and hear him.

"What is it!?" she hollered, but still couldn't hear what he was saying, so she climbed even lower. Arthur moved forward on the branch once again, but felt panic shoot through him as he heard it starting to snap. He paralized himself.

"Hazel, whatever you do, do NOT jump down here!" he shouted, not even elevating his head to look up at her for he was afraid that the slightest movement would break the branch in half. But Hazel still couldn't hear. She was still too high up.

"What did you say?" she called as she upside down from the branch with her legs wrapped around it while her hands cupped around her mouth to elevate her voice.

"I said don't come down here!" he tried to say as loud as he could.

"What!? Come down there!?" she hollered, mistaking his words.

"No no no no DON'T! Come down he-," But it was too late. His words were interrupted with a loud SNAP when Hazel had bounced her way down and landed right on the branch he warned her not to and completely broke it in half, causing both of them to fall a severe but not fatal drop. Arthur hit a mountain of snow and Hazel a few seconds later. Arthur lay in the snow for a while, moaning at how badly the great fall hurt. The two continued to comically grunt and scoff in pain.

"Think ay' broke my shin-oh!" she grunted. He got up, shook the white crumbs of snow out of his blonde locks and glared at the girl.

"Well it's your own fault! I told you not to jump on the branch and you did! Why don't you listen!?"

"Oh forgive me 'your majesty!'" she said in a mocking tone. "Why didn't you tell me about the branch!?" Something he should have been learning throughout the last few days was that this girl was not like any other girl. She didn't just shut up and obey like a trained mule when instructed to do so the way most women would. She seemed to have a sardonic statement up her sleeve for everything that came out of her mouth. And she wasn't afraid to talk back to anybody, no matter how tense the situation was.

"I did!" Arthur shot back.

"No you didn't!" she said as she planted her hands in the snow.

"I said: Don't come down here!"

"I don't understand whachu're sayin'!" she said as she swatted the air in his direction. Arthur scoffed and shook his head. Hazel got up and rubbed her back as she winced and groaned. "This ain't worth no bed that has a pillow," she muttered to herself. Hazel started to limp away. "Come on let's go get your stupid sword!"

They walked and walked and walked side by side while they continued to have bantering battles with each other, and Hazel was the victor of every single one. Hazel seemed to have gotten them lost several times or either drove them in circles, which was only begging for more bickering between the two. Arthur started to grow slightly frustrated and annoyed with her backchat attitude, however he couldn't stop himself from getting a laugh of entertainment out of it. It was almost appealing, however he dare not show it.

"Where are we now?" Arthur inquired to the girl.

"Re-lax Arthur," Hazel said as she cracked her wrist. "This is a shortcut to the shop."

"But you said that ten minutes ago. Do you even know your way around here or where we're going?"

"Listen Arthur, after I ran away from the orphanage, I lived on the streets. There, I developed a bit of a bad habit: I like to eat! And since I was a bit broke, I had to steal. And what happens when you steal something? You get chased. And when you don't wanna get caught, you gotta learn your way around to get to places like food markets, clothing shops or pawning shops. Ah, and speak of the devil," Hazel said as she pointed up ahead to their very destination. They had reached the pawn shop. It was a small one story building that was hardly if not at all distinguished from the other uniform buildings in the city. It was incredibly quiet and still. It was like the two were the only human beings within a hundred miles.

With no other option, Arthur quietly headed up to the door and was about to knock on it, when Hazel quickly grabbed his wrist and yanked him away from the door.

"What are you doing!?" she hissed with wide eyes.

"Well we're here aren't we?" he asked as he shook his wrist out of her grip.

"Yeah but we also don't wanna get caught!" Hazel snapped.

"But it's dark, there's nobody here...right?"

"Wrong. Mr. Shopkeeper's a bit skeptical about anything being stolen while he's gone, so he started to sleep here. So we cannot make a sound." she said as she then turned around and headed for the back of the store.

"Where are we going?" Arthur asked from behind as he tried to catch up to her.

" 't's called the trap door break in, very serious pilfering work." Hazel said sincerely as she continued to strut.

"Trap door break in?" Arthur repeated.

"Look, just do whatever I do and we'll be in and out with the sword right away," Hazel said. "And most importantly," she said as then got into the boy's face. "Be quiet." she sneered through gritted teeth.

"Alright already, let's go!" Arthur whispered. Hazel directed him to imitate her actions, which consisted of scaling the side of the pawn shop and delicately walking across the roof. She stealthily made her way to the opposite end of the rooftop, where she noticed a hatch door. She proceeded to quietly unlatch it and gently push it open. It made a bit of a creek when opened but thankfully not loud enough for the storekeeper to hear.

"Stay here." Hazel whispered as she was about to slip into the opening.

"Hey wait," Arthur interrupted as he grabbed the end of her shirt. "Can't I go?" Hazel rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Everybody's a comedian today," she let out, rather irritated. "Absolutely not. If something happens to you they'll wring my neck! Just leave this to me, alright!?" Arthur was beginning to get fed up with this girl. She was insensitive. Bossy. Sloppy.

"What is your problem!?" he bellowed. "Why don't you ever learn to listen!? You just always think you know better than everybody else!"

"If you can just sit here and wait for five minutes, I promise I will do anything you wish!" she let out. "But I'll tell you one thing, I ain't goin' back to jail because of you." she said as she began to disappear into the hole.

"Back to jail?" Arthur repeated, quite confused. "Oh come on Hazel!" he begged as he once again grabbed her shirt and pulled her out. Hazel looked like she wanted to rip out her hair. However she remembered her little fight with Mim last night and recalled how annoying being put to the side to wait could be. She also knew that Arthur was gonna come in one way or the other. Hazel sighed. "Well...Oh Alright!" she huffed. "Come on." He did so.

Very quietly, Hazel dropped down on the ground without making a sound and then began to search around the room for the lost blade and Arthur did the same. About five minutes in they had lost each other in the darkness but still focused on finding the sword and getting out as quickly as possible. Arthur could barely see anymore that he had to start feeling around for it. But all he felt were scraps of fabric, jewelry and small metal tools.

He was about to give up until his hand met a familiar handle, that stuck out of a familiar leather sheath. He felt it over and over again to make sure he had really done it. He had found the sword! He was so overjoyed he was about to call out Hazel's name, but then remembered he was still in somebody else's home. But that all dropped when the blonde felt something's hard grip clutching the wrist on one of his stick-like arms. Paralyzed with fear, he saw the entire shop illuminate with a growing light from a torch. As the room brightened up, he saw Hazel on the other side of the room. She slapped her forehead and dragged her hand down her face as she starred at whatever was gripping his leg. Arthur finally got the grit to turn his head around to see a grown man, the owner of the shop, wide awake and out of bed, gripping his arm.

"Now you've done it, stupid!" Hazel exclaimed as she stomped her foot.

"Well if it isn't the redheaded rat herself," the merchant sneered at Hazel. "Nice to see you Hazel."

"Likewise." Hazel replied to the man her eyes wide and filled with panic and disbelief. The man looked at Arthur.

"This fellow your new partner in crime?" he asked.

"Leave him alone." Hazel sneered, words that Arthur thought he'd never hear from her.

"Afraid I can't do that," the man said. "This little lad is a thief. And you know what happens to thieves." he said with a smirk as he yanked the sword out of the boy's hand. He shook the sheathe off of it and held it a centimeter away from the trembling boy's neck.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Man, hold it right there!" Hazel exclaimed. "D-d-don't do anything stupid!" the girl let out as she threw her hands in the air. "And if you have to, can you do it outside? I can't stand the sight of blood...or you."

"Why you little!" the man growled as he let go of Arthur and pointed the blade at Hazel. "I'm gonna slice your head of and knit your hair into a tapestry!"

"Oooh, t-t-tough guy are y-y-you?" Hazel tried her best to seem not afraid.

"That you should be, you weakling of a brat!"

"Alrighty then if I'm so weak then you don't need the sword to kill me," Hazel said with a smirk as she placed her hands on her hips. "Go on," she pushed. "Put the sword down! Fight me like a man!"

"Fight you like a man?" the merchant scoffed.

"Of course! Why, a cat could stab somebody! Anybody can! But that just means that whoever does so isn't skilled with a blade, it only means that they lack skill with their strength. And I'd say you qualify for the second category."

"That's it!" the man shouted as he threw the sword to the ground and started stomping towards Hazel, aggressively.

"Arthur, get out of here!" she yelled when she saw the blade on the ground. The boy quickly ran over to it, grabbed it and headed for the door. But he stopped, remembering he had forgotten one thing: Hazel.

"Fight like a man you say?" the merchant mocked. "Well tell you what little girl, you want a piece of me, 'cause if you do all give you all you want." Hazel hugged the wall and started laughing nervously.

"Alright, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. But be warned...I did time in a military camp." The man scoffed.

"Military camps are for boys little girl." he corrected. Hazel put her hands on her hips and stretched her neck up to him as she peered her eyes.

"I know. I'm as scrawny as a boy that I was there two years before they found out." she threatened.

"Then square up right away lassie!" he said as he ran towards the girl. However Hazel dropped down and slid between his legs. She was sure she had made one of her many clever escapes, but was tugged back when the man grabbed her yellow oversized shirt. "Isn't gonna be that easy lassie." the man said as he held a firm grip on her shirt, watching her squirm and trying to wiggle away. Before he could think, Arthur quickly ran over with the sword and sliced the scrap of her shirt that the man was holding her by off, cutting Hazel free.

"Come on!" the blonde exclaimed as he grabbed the girl and swiftly dragged her out the door and outside. "Hazel, that was amazing. How did you do that?" he asked after several pants.

"We can have our wrap up later, let's get out of here!"


When they figured they were far enough away from the shop, the two children started to slow down and walk. They had decided to take a shortcut through the forest, which Arthur strongly protested against. He did not know how right he was.

"Not a bad night huh?" Hazel said to her companion as she stretched her arms.

"I guess not," Arthur agreed as he gripped the precious sword's handle like his life depended on it. "You're pretty good at this stuff Hazel...but you also almost died."

"I almost die alot. But it's all part of the regime." she said confidently.

"What's a regime?" he asked naively.

"A...routine of some sort."

"Routine. Hazel...how long have you been doing stuff like this exactly?"

"How long?" she repeated. "Er...uh one, two...uh...," Hazel began to count her fingers. "Mmm, 'bout six months." she said casually.

"I guess that's why you're so nonchalant about betting your life." Hazel made an odd face.

"How are you asking what 'regime' means, and then using words like nonchalant?" the girl questioned as she scratched the back of her auburn head.

"I heard a knight say it." the blonde admitted, unashamed.

"It figures." Hazel mumbled.

"Thanks for helping me get this back. I don't think I could've done it without you."

"Yeah, probably not," she said, quite cocky. "And you're welcome. Sounds like you really needed it. And do not lose it again."

"You're telling me. The last sword I lost was Kay's and boy was he mad. He made me run around like crazy looking for another one."

"That's a bit selfish of him don't you think?"

"Oh no, I don't think it was selfish. It was just the way things were."

"Isn't it great when the 'that's just the way things are' excuse lines up perfectly with being selfish?" Hazel inquired with a playful shrug.

"What?" he asked as he cocked his head.

"Nevermind," Hazel said after a giggle. "C'mon. Let's go..." her voice drowned out in silence. Arthur noticed a sudden change in mood from her when she froze and started to stare into the woods.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked. Hazel did't answer. "Hazel?" he asked again.

"Quiet Arthur," she said as she stared into the forest. "I thought I heard something."

"You're just trying to scare me aren't you?" he asked. Hazel didn't respond, she only remained still and wide eyed, licking her lips nervously. "Hazel whats wrong?" But she still didn't answer. And then he knew she wasn't kidding. The redhead grabbed his wrist and started to walk faster, without even saying a word. Arthur could feel her out of character fear through her iron grip on his. "Hazel what is wrong with y-OH!" he exclaimed as he felt something full out thwack his back. He fell to the ground, dropping the precious sword from the stone. Hazel panicked when she saw a full grown man, who had been following them had just given Arthur the butt of a rod to the head. She knew she was dead meat if the twelve year old king of England was hurt, however much to her shock, he wasn't the target. She was.

The man grabbed Arthur by his greenish yellow scarf and tossed him to the side, before coming to beat the living heck out of Hazel. The girl knew she could not run away and leave Arthur, so she had no other choice but to fight.

After about five minutes, Arthur opened his groggy eyes to see the girl in an all out fight with a grown man. And what a fight it was. Using her smaller stature to her advantage, Hazel leapt and climbed all over him, resembling a red fox engaged in a struggle with a bear. Though Hazel fought valiantly, her efforts fell short. Constrained by her inability to find a place to flee, the man gained the advantage. Seizing the back of Hazel's shirt, he forcefully drove her face into the snow. Undeterred, Hazel swiftly raised her head, attempting to break free. Yet the man firmly clutched her shirt, nearly rending it in two. As Hazel wriggled and scratched in the snow like a floundering fish, she was dragged backward against her will.

"Ar-ha-thur RUN!" she screamed. There was so much snow in her mouth you could barely make out her words. "Arthur I said get OUT OF HERE-OHH!" Hazel's scream erupted as the man forcefully yanked her hair, hurling her onto the ground once again. However, the boy remained paralyzed with fear, unable to make a move. The sound of Hazel's anguished moans and cries became unbearable as the man tightened his grip around her throat, pinning her down and subjecting her to a brutal onslaught of punches and beatings. Panic consumed the boy when he witnessed the sight of blood and an unconscious Hazel, her face buried in the snow. He sprang to his feet, seizing the sword and delivering a forceful blow to the man's head, compelling him to cease the assault. Swiftly, he rushed over to Hazel, enfolding his arms beneath hers and around her torso, hoisting her off the ground in a supportive hold, and sprinting away. The man quickly regained consciousness and yelled one more thing at Hazel: "You can run, but you can't hide Guinevere!"


To Be Continued...

AN: What do you think?