Forums » General Roleplay » A wild orphan appeared (1x1 with gloomy)

"Well, now look who's joined the land of the living!" the king exclaimed, "And yes. Queen; you've certainly got the character for a title of that grandeur. If anybody suspects you of stealing it, you just tell me; you can bet on your tail they'll keep their mouth shut after that." he grinned playfully.

(Heh... kinda. I've not really explored too much.)

"N-no... How could I ever be queen of anything except dirt?" she asked with a whimper, "Nobody likes me and I can't tell anyone to do anything..." she looked down at the crown in her hand and considered dropping it but couldn't. It wasn't hers. She wasn't going to just take it and sell it. She hadn't earned it.

"W-what happened?" he grumbled and looked around groggily, then spotted Natalia with the king's crown and his eyes widened, "Did you kill the king?!"

Malus had disregarded what Natalia had said; her self esteem issues were a force to be reckoned with and it didn't seem any amount of effort he put in to make her feel better even grazed the surface of it. Once the squire had awoken, however, to make such an accusation, Malus left no room for misconception. "Nope, I'm right here, as alive as I'll ever be!" he spoke loudly and clearly, receiving a quick jolt from the cheetah. "And so are you, thank the gods. I was wondering if you'd ever awaken." he added.

The cheetah let out a startled yelp when the king shook him and he relaxed, then looked around, "Sire... Why does the peasant have the royal crown?"

"Because I said she could." He answered simply, gingerly setting down the squire so that he could walk on his own. "It's just a crown."

The boy was startled when he found himself so off balance and he let out a terrified cry when he discovered his arm was missing.
"MY ARM!!!" he screamed and looked about frantically before manwging to calm himself and he let out a quiet whimper, "W-what happened?"

Malus had been jolted by the squire's sudden panic, only for it to be replaced with a sharp pang of guilt. "It had to be removed..." He answered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "It was too badly marred; you wouldn't have lived otherwise. I'm sorry." He was silent for a moment. "What is your name, child...?"

He took a deep breath and accepted the news, "Thank you for saving me, sire... But why is it not wrapped and it seems like a wound many years old?" he asked worriedly, occasionally glancing back at Natalia, "Is she a witch?" he asked with a whisper,"Or a healer?"

The king gave a small snort, "She is a healer, and a fine one at that. You should thank her, you know; without her, you'd just be an axe-stricken cadaver right about now... Eh... sorry, that probably wasn't funny. I'll just uh... let you have all this sink in for a moment. Oh, and you still haven't told us your name."

"Thank you," the squire said with a bow of his head then turned to Malus, "My name is Carter."

"Carter, huh...? Alright. It's a pleasure to meet you, Carter." The king mused with a curt bow to the squire, beginning to walk the path once more. Now that formalities were out of the way, there was no time to waste.

Malus, for the longest of times, kept replaying the scenes of both the village and the militia barracks in the back of his mind, hoping to remember any crucial details as to help them take their next step in stopping the ruthless bear-men. He was utterly engrossed in trying to understand how to stop them. He recalled how the victim of the imperial spear had been so finely built and remembered what the creature was adorned in, the weapon he carried, the paint on his face, everything. They were strong too. He remembered that not only had they killed the people of both the town and the barracks, but had pillaged and looted as well. This wasn't an act of sport; this was an act out of motive...

What motive, you ask? Malus wasn't quite sure. It could have been simply greed that had gotten the better of them. They did not look at all like they were too intelligent; simply all brawn with no brain. But looks can be quite deceiving.

In truth, Malus knew that the most obvious course of action would have been to return to Sarracosta and tell the general of these ruthless war mongrels, so that the matter would be addressed to properly. But... something kept him from putting that thought into action, as if it wasn't the right answer to their problem. No. No, he had to think this out more thoroughly.

"Carter," Malus spoke out after what seemed like an eternity to him, "What was your business at the militia barracks? Do you know anything about those... things, that we may not know.

"They had an accent like that from those of our northern regions but much thicker. They spoke some of our language but they were yelling and screaming in their own for the most part... Their general... He was a massive boar with tusks made of bronze and he used two axes. They fought like demons and moved too quickly for their size," Carter explained with his tail between his legs.

"Move too quickly for their size..." Malus repeated. "Speak like the North... Er, what do you make of this, Natalia?"

Natalia hadn't really been paying attention and she was staring at the crown in her hands. She looked up, startled.
"W-what?"

Malus turned to her and repeated his last statement, "I said, 'what do you make of this whole situation?'. Surely you have a voice in what you believe should be done; why not use it?" He was trying to be sincere, hoping to coax her slowly but surely out of her fears. "Of course, it is only a suggestion. I would also like your opinion on the matter, Carter."

(Sorry for the delay, my computer's motherboard had crashed.)

"I don't know...." Natalia said timidly and let the crown hand down at her side and she just stared at her feet as she walked.

Carter rubbed the back of his head in thought, "I don't know... We'll have to send out warnings to the outlying villages... And if we can, try and find out where they're attacking from. We'll have to figure out how to deal with their fighting style if there's not enough time to get into a phalanx."

"Good strategy." Malus remarked, "Alerting the local towns and posts should keep more raiding from occurring. Of course, that had been the plan from the start, seeing as how my friend and I were only a fraction too late to alert your post. Now... you said they sound like they come from the North... there's only so much 'North' on the map, from where we're at; the majority of it is territory under the control of Sarracosta. If they're that close to the capitol..." the king swallowed. "Something tells me we shouldn't head directly back to Sarracosta. Not me, at least. If my instinct is right, they may be waiting for just the right moment to ambush. No, we need to work our way South; find a town or post nearby that can spread message. We can rally troops that way as well." he thought for a moment, "Unless either of you can find a better conclusion, of course."

(That sucks glad you're back though how are you?)

"No, they're from the regions of the north no one has colonized," Carter said with a frown, "We will need a lot of troops for sure though and whatever you need to do to rally them, you should do it."

(I'm good. You?)

Malus thought for a moment, "Hmm... colonized regions or not, they are still very close to the capitol; and with them already inside our borders, this makes the risk of attack even more dangerous. We'll need a lot of men. But... gah, curse my memory... Carter, where is the nearest town or post?"

"There's a town about a day's walk away," the cheetah answered thoughtfully then looked back at Natalia.
"I'm extremely grateful that she healed me, but why is she coming with us?" he asked Malus in a whisper but Natalia still heard him with those sensitive ears of hers and tears began rolling down her cheeks at the next comment, "She's just slowing us down isn't she? You're trying to save the kingdom and it seems like she isn't good for all that much by way of physical labor or really anything physical, and I've got a feeling that she's just going to be a waste of rations."