I don't usually put authors notes in chapters I upload in a week special, but this was too good to pass up.
If you guys want to get a good laugh, go and check the reviews for this story. Doom Marine left quite possibly my favourite thus far. Fucking hilarious. If you read this man, bang up review. Fantastic.
Enjoy!
The walk down the beaten path was silent, save for the sound of snow crunching underneath their feet.
Drake didn't know why they were being so quiet, it was strange. Steph was acting distant and weird, answering quickly and barely looking anywhere near Elise. Elise was exhausted, as they'd made her get up early so they could reach Arkney as fast as possible. Even so, she too had been quiet for the walk thus far. Drake wasn't much of a talker these days either, so it made the whole scenario very strange to be a part of.
Coming across a small rest stop, the group parted from the road to walk towards it, sitting and taking a breath.
"How much farther?" Drake asked, exhaling loudly, mist floating in front of him. Steph shrugged, surveying the horizon.
"Can't be much farther," she said. "We've been walking for a while."
"Who wants to carry me?" Elise asked, yawning. "I'm exhausted."
"Take a nap," Drake replied, watching her. "We can stick here for a while, it's not like it's late." Elise seemed to take this at his word, and closed her eyes, lulling over on the bench. Drake busied himself by looking around at his surroundings. The stop was clearly meant for those riding in a carriage, but he and Elise had convinced Steph they didn't need one of those. Sure he was cold, but at least he wasn't sick. The open area was surrounded by a thick brush, which they'd entered a little bit ago. Save for the benches there wasn't really much available to them. Looking back at Steph, Drake made a face when he found her doing an odd dance around the open area, her face contorted in annoyance.
"You okay?" He asked, causing her to jump.
"Fine!" She answered, smiling weakly at him. "I'm just keeping warm!"
"Uh...huh," he replied, watching her carefully. She knew he wasn't dumb, so why was she lying? "Do I need to ask again, or no?" Steph sighed and looked away from him, still fidgeting.
"I..."she trailed off, leaving Drake wondering what she'd said.
"Speak up, don't make me listen." He said. Steph flexed her fists before looking at Drake fully, cheeks turning red.
"I have to pee," she said quickly, growing even more embarrassed when the words left her mouth.
Drake, however, was confused.
"So?" He asked, gesturing over his shoulder. "There's a forest around us. Go take a leak."
"It's not that easy you jackass!" Steph shouted angrily. "I can't just whip it out wherever I want like a guy!"
"It's what you get for having so much water this morning," He replied.
"You're not helping!" She yelled, Drake once again gesturing to the woods. "No!"
"Would you rather piss yourself?" Drake demanded. Silence fell over them, Steph's cheeks growing redder and redder the whole time. Finally, with a big huff, she walked towards the tree line closest to Drake.
"If I see you watching me, you're dead!" she shouted, moving the bushes to get into the forest.
"Good luck," Drake called, ignoring her threat. Soon he heard her get farther away, leaving him with the unconscious Elise. Looking over at her, Drake noted she had a slight smile on her face. After a few seconds she let out a small laugh and tilted her head slightly, muttering to himself.
Drake couldn't resist.
Activating his magic, he watched as Elise continued to make small gestures and smiles.
"Stop it Keita..." She muttered to herself, making Drake raise an eyebrow. "I'm not letting you test your tickles per second speed on me...Fuck off, that's why...Okay, maybe if I get something in return..."
Drake decided he'd heard enough, and made a face as he turned from the girl in disgust. He didn't know how just of that she actually dreamt about, but from what he'd heard it was going in an unsavoury direction.
"She split off from her friends man, she's all by herself!"
Drake perked up as a new voice invaded his head. Standing up, he whipped his head towards the treeline, listening intently.
"I don't know if she's even got anything on her, but we haven't gotten a pick from these roads in months! She'll do!"
"Alright boys, surround her, and on my signal we take her out."
Drake knew whatever he was hearing, wasn't good. Looking quickly at Elise and seeing she was still knocked out, Drake dashed into the trees, following Steph's scent.
Someone was after her, and they weren't interesting in talking.
Steph didn't know if she'd wandered far enough off the road yet, but merely this scenario made her antsy. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this, was she some kind of redneck?
Then again, she really did need to pee.
Sighing, Steph stopped in a small clearing and looked around. She'd couldn't see any road, so she assumed she was far away enough. Was Drake perverted enough to listen though?
She didn't have time to wonder, her bladder was going to implode. She was getting what she deserved for drinking so much that morning. Taking another quick look around, Steph finally decided here was good enough.
Her pants were around her ankles when she heard bushes rustling nearby.
"Steph!" Steph felt her head spinning as Drake swerved towards her, looking frantic.
"What did I tell you?!" She demanded, reaching for her pants. "Get the hell out of her-!"
"Hit the dirt!" Steph didn't have time to argue with him before he tackled her into the snow, causing her lower half to go extremely cold.
"What the fuck!" She shouted, still struggling to pull her pants up. "Why the fuck are you-?!"
An arrow lodged itself in the tree nearest to them.
"Get your pants up already," Drake said, already on his feet and watching the trees. "I didn't see anything."
"...Y-Yeah, you better not have..." Finally getting her pants back up, Steph stood back to back with Drake and the two waited for anymore attacks.
"Wow, you guys only attack a girl with her pants down, huh?" Drake called out, making Steph choke. "Losers."
"My pants weren't down!" Steph shouted. "They were, uh, almost there!" Drake seemed to ignore her and quickly looked to his left, and tossed a poison attack at a bush off in the distance. Steph watched as a group of about five men ran from the attack, exposing them to the pair.
"Ah, seems we found the perverts, Steph." Drake said. The men got back up and assembled, watching the two of them warily.
"We aren't perverts!" One shouted. "We were trying to rob her!"
"Oh so you're pervs and bandits," Drake surmised. "Cool, a two for one special."
"Just give us your shit and we'll leave you alone!" Another one of them shouted. Drake responded by cracking his knuckles.
"Suppose I should warm up, I'm kinda rusty." He said. The men responded by rushing Drake, while two of them drew bows and stayed back. Drake rolled up his sleeves and poison gathered around his hands.
It had been so long Steph had nearly forgotten.
She watched as Drake stepped forward and delivered a massive punch to the man in front, sending him flying backwards and into a tree, cracking in two.
Drake wasn't a pushover.
He turned and dodged the second bandits sword swing, as if it was second nature to him. Drake let his moment from the dodge bring his leg up higher, and he delivered a roundhouse kicked to the third man swinging a mace at him. this man hit the dirt and, in a split second, Drake had grabbed the man with the sword and blasted him in the face with poison, which sent him to the ground.
It was only around now Steph realised arrows had been flying this whole time. Just as she began to charge up to take them out, Drake spat a roar attack in their direction, also sending them into the dirt as well.
In the span of maybe thirty seconds all five men had hit the dirt and weren't getting up.
"Is that it?" Drake asked, looking unimpressed. "Come on now, you guys can't expect to rob folks like this." This taunt got no response as expected, but from what Steph could see the men were trying to stand up. Steph was about to stay something before Drake sighed.
"What?" She asked.
"It's not over yet," He said. Just as he said this, bushes began to rustle once more. In the blink of an eye, Drake and Steph were surrounded by well armed soldier types, all aiming their weapons at them.
"What the hell is going on around here?" Steph demanded. "Are we getting attacked again?"
"Don't you move!" One of the men shouted. "Not just anybody walks up this way these days, identify yourselves!"
"Mighty tight security, huh?" Drake asked, sounding bored. "Look, if you guys want to fight we can fight. We aren't here to cause trouble."
"Yeah," Steph agreed. "So how about you lower your weapons and we-"
Steph was cut off as two of the soldiers around them flew apart, flying into trees and getting slammed into them. Iron clubs keeping them in place.
"Honestly," Elise said, looking tired as she kept the two men pushed up. "A fifteen minute nap was too much to ask for apparently. What did you guys do now?"
There weren't many words Steph could think of to describe her mental exhaustion at this.
Another soldier turned to Elise and attempted to stab her with his spear, but it bounced harmlessly off of her and snapped in two. Elise stared at him, unimpressed.
"Try again," she said.
"Or don't," Steph offered. "Elise, these guys aren't trouble."
"Which is why you guys are surrounded, right?" She asked.
"She's got a point," Drake replied. Well, that was true. The situation didn't look good. Steph saw Drake's ears twitching, and she looked in the same direction he was. She saw two soldiers conversing in a low voice, which meant Drake was listening to them.
"Arresting us is easier said then done," he called out. "So don't try anything." The two looked over at him, and then back at each other. After a few more seconds, the soldiers moved closer.
"You three are under arrest," One of them said. "By the order of the city of Arkney, you're being taken into custody." The name of the city struck a chord with Steph.
"Is this how the North treats people who deal with bandits?" Drake asked. "This is sad. Well, I guess we have to deal with this too."
"Drake wait," Steph said. "They're soldiers, don't start something."
"What do we do then?" Steph looked back at the soldiers, thinking.
"They said they work for the city of Arkney," She said. "That's where we're going. We should just let them take us there to avoid any trouble." Drake didn't seem very invested in this idea, but he sighed and lowered his arm.
"Fine. Let's get arrested."
"So," the older man in uniform said as he walked in front of the Drake and the girls, who were seated on the other side of the table. Steph was attentive, but Elise was asleep. "What're you kids doing up here? Causing trouble?"
"Allegedly," Drake said, making Steph suppress a smile. "Personally I think we were doing a public service." The man responded by slamming his hands down on the desk, but this didn't intimidate Drake it the slightest.
"Listen up funny guy," He said, voice gruff. "We're in it rough up here. Nobody, least of all powerful wizards, trek up here without a reason. So, who do you work for?"
"Does it matter if I answer?" Drake asked. "Or are you going to draw your own assumption anyway?"
"You working for The Enchanted Blades?" Wait, Drake had heard that name before. From where, though?
"That's a no," Steph said. "Who's that?" The man stood back up straight and eyed them sternly.
"A group of bandits that roam here and over in Seven," he said. "Vicious marauders. With the insurgence going on there they're taking advantage of the relaxed protection, and think they can do so over here too. We aren't Seven, and we don't take that kinda shit here." With this, he leaned back in. "So, who do you work for?"
"Well, it's this pretty unknown guild." Drake answered, flicking bits of snow across the table and watching them melt. "Probably never heard of it."
"Oh yeah?" He asked. "Try me." Drake didn't respond, wondering if he should answer truthfully or not. Before he could, however, there was a slamming at the door to the interrogation room. The older man ignored it, but soon it annoyed him.
"What?" He shouted.
"Open the door Chief!" A man shouted. The Chief growled and went to the door, opening it to reveal a soldier standing there.
"What?" He demanded, "I'm busy with these kids."
"I know sir," The soldier said. "But, um..."
"Spit it out," The Chief said. The soldier looked at his Chief sheepishly.
"You have to let them go," he said. The Chief made a face at this.
"What?!" He demanded. "Under who's authority?!"
"The mayors," The soldier responded. "He's ordering you to release them. Sorry sir." The Chief looked flabbergasted at this, but growled.
"Fine," he hissed. "If we free criminals now, we free criminals now." With this he turned back to Drake and the girls. "Looks like you got bailed out today kids. But watch it. I won't hesitate to put you behind bars if i have to to protect these people."
"We'll keep that in mind, Chief Killjoy," Drake replied, kicking Elise under the table to wake her up. "Thanks for the ride, it's pretty chilly out there on the road."
"Try me kid," The Chief growled as Drake walked to the door. Drake smirked at him.
"After you princess," he said, enjoying the angry look he got. He left the Chief to himself and left the room, back out into the open.
And right into a livid glare.
Drake stopped dead in his tracks, causing Steph and Elise to smack into him.
"Drake?" Steph asked, looking forward. She too saw it, and gulped. "Ah crap."
"What?" Elise asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What's wro-"
She, too, saw it.
"...Oh," she finished. The three didn't have a word to say, none of them dared speak up.
She glared at each of them for a long while, before she rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"You guys...Got arrested," she stated, the three of them staying silent. "Not only that, but by the city I'm working for. Do you have any idea what kind of position that put me in? You're lucky the mayor likes me so much, otherwise you'd all be locked up right now."
"...Sorry," Drake said, not used to the scathing glare. It had been too long since he'd seen it. "We got into some trouble."
"Clearly," she said. After some more silence, she chuckled and the glare was replaced with a small smile. "And without me. You guys suck." With this, the tension from the room disappeared, making Drake relax.
Ultear looked up, a little teary eyed.
"So," she started. "Who's getting a hug first?"
Chapter 290: Joining The Fight