Imagine this, you are running. What are you running from?  Guards, royal guards. Now you've just may wonder why we are being chased by royal guards. Well you stole the royal crown. This may seem like a big deal but actually they stole it first. Now you know where I'm standing at the moment.

I'm getting ahead of myself, allow me to explain, back to when I was a child. We decided to stay on this big area of land we decided to split up. Doing this made the four kingdoms. First is the land of Staria known for flat land, many farm animals and farms of vegetables.

Next is the palace of Luckaria. It is on a large island and is known for lots of fish and lots of happy people, then their Alavari known as the sky tower, they live in the mountains and live in towers holding 10-20 people each.

The Luckarian's are also the ones that stole the crown.

Then there's my kingdom, Zanarini, known for travel and has by far the coolest looking area land wise.

Now that's out of the way I'll introduce myself, I'm Arianna Vestertine the daughter of the queen of Zanarini, but I just go by Ari. Now that may sound like a dream come true but all the duties fall into your hands and you are constantly busy.

So I left and yes that's right I ran away. Now I'm trying to steal something valuable from every kingdom and I'm gonna sail away to another land and start my own kingdom. At Least if I don't get thrown in jail. Now I have my kingdom's most valuable item that I stole from Alavari even though they stole it first.

Now onto the story. I'm running away from the guards but I come to a sudden realization that we were heading straight towards a cliffs and were running on snow so there is a low chance I will stop fast enough. While running I scanned for a way to get out of the situation but I ran out of time and had to stop so I didn't slide down the cliff.

I realize that the drop was just a few feet down but far enough where they won't see me.

Before I jumped down, I turned towards the guards who thought they had caught me. I slowly back to the edge of the cliff, look back at the guard and give the face of surrender. They slowly started to surround me so I jumped back . It was scary to be just falling. That didn't last long, because I landed in the snow.

I instantly hopped up to hide behind a tree. I did not know if the guards would look down to see if I actually fell. I waited a few minutes to make sure I was safe. The only bad part of this whole endeavor was that they knew who I was. I hope that doesn't start anything up.

I got out of the tree cover and to the end of the ledge I fell onto. I searched for the easiest and safest way down. It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't actually that far from the ground.

I found a little area that was less steep. It didn't touch the ground but it was low enough where I could jump down. I quickly but cautiously went down the way I planned. Once I was down I realized I wasn't near where I snuck in.

Usually that wouldn't be a big deal but my horse, Lucifer, was still there. I do have a good whistle but the guards will hear me. I saw my rope blowing in the wind from climbing up onto the mountain and then realized I wasn't as far as I thought. I could whistle but it might be a minute until he arrived.

I decided to whistle but knew I had to hide or I would be seen. I hid in a tree where I could see Lucifer run by. I whistled and it got quiet. It was quiet before but this, this was an unsettling quiet. I waited and it felt weird.I could hear the sounds of him running towards me, then I heard him neigh.

He normally doesn't but I put off the thought. I ran out from my cover to get on my horse. Only to see that three guards had my horse! I'm guessing that's why he had neighed.

In a quick rage I took out my small sword and charged towards the guards. I raised my sword towards the first one. Surprisingly  enough they didn't notice me until I knocked one of them down.

In my blind rage I had stabbed the guard multiple times. I was covered in blood from the guard. The other guards grabbed me resulting in me dropping my sword, I was able to get away. I grabbed my sword off of the ground, spun around quickly, stabbing one of the other guards.

He fell to the ground slowly bleeding out. I then stabbed him in the neck, I was no monster I gave him mercy. All that was left was the last one.

I took my sword out of the dead guard's neck and charged towards the last one. I threw my sword at his lower spine, paralyzing him. I whistled for my horse before more guards came. I mounted up quickly and ran. I didn't even realize he had stepped on one of the bodies until I saw the blood on his leg. It wasn't a big deal though, I could clean it off later.

My campsite was located where all the kingdoms meet so there was a small gap of unclaimed land. It was pretty quiet most of the time.  I dismounted cautiously to not spook my horse any more. After dismounting I untacked him and hitched him up. I then started up a fire and sat down to rest.

I told you about the kingdoms but not much about me. I am Arianna but call me Ari, princess of Zanarini. I am the oldest. I have a younger sister and younger brother. My father passed away from an unknown sickness. My mother is ruling now. I am 21 years old, I also have a son named David. He is 2 years old he lives in the kingdom. I couldn't bear to see him get hurt.

That's all I'm willing to say at the moment. it started to get dark so I unpack my wool blankets and found some moss to  use as a pillow. I found a hidden patch under a tree so if it rains I'll be dry. I got myself situated but felt restless.

I have never wanted to kill someone on purpose until I saw the guards. Their screams were just stuck in my head and they were keeping me awake. Before I knew it, it was pitch black out. I was wide awake.

I couldn't sleep and it was getting really cold. I couldn't tell at first but it was snowing. I was shivering but it was keeping me distracted from earlier. I slowly fell asleep after a few more minutes.

I woke up and my body felt stiff. I opened my crusty eyes to see snow everywhere. Well more than we get at our kingdom. I didn't have much time to react before I heard a horse running towards my area.

I knew it wasn't Lucifer, he was right next to me. I looked around to see where they were coming from. I looked right in front of me to notice a large  bay horse running towards my area. The rider didn't look like anyone I knew nor a guard.

I shot up and got ready in case I had to fight. I mounted my horse and started running towards the other horse. When we got closer we came to a sudden stop. It was a boy that looked my age, maybe older.

"What are you doing in my camp area!" I yelled loud enough so that he would hear me.

"I didn't mean any harm. I swear I'm just trying to find a place to stay." he said loudly. I sighed not knowing what to do.

"You may stay at my camp for the day or otherwise you will die out here." I said, a little bothered. I saw a little bit of hope shine in his eyes and I started heading back.

I could tell he was following because of how loud his horse was. I decided to just walk back because we weren't that far away. He seemed trustworthy but I couldn't tell him my plan just in case.

We arrived and dismounted, heading to hitch up the horses.

"So are you from any of the kingdoms?" I said, trying to make small talk. Besides, it might be better to have a friend than an enemy right now or a possible alibi, they might come in handy

"I am from Staria." the boy said. The sacred item from his kingdom is a headdress, it's pure gold with sapphire gems. Clearly I'm not telling him why I'd know this, I just stayed quiet.

"Well I'm Ari." I walked alongside my horse, moving the reins from one hand to the other.

"I'm Elliott may I ask why aren't you at your kingdom?" Elliott asked.

"I am from Zanarini and I ran away." not the best idea to tell him all this but then again news about me was bound to spread at some point, right?

"Oh, well I don't want to make you feel weird if I'm asking too many questions," he said with a smile, it was reassuring.

"No no, it's fine, clearly I'm open to anything." again I really couldn't care less about giving up information, if I got information in return of course.

"So what are you doing out here anyways?"

"Well, my father disowned me. So I just left,"Elliott said.

"Oh, wow I couldn't imagine that." suddenly just being nice turned into actually caring. We tied up the horses and surprisingly a cat hopped off his horse. It surprised me, but i didn't show the fact it did

"Do you think it would be ok if I stayed with you for a bit?" he asked, I gulped not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings.

"I guess you can." We continued walking through the wet snow with a few dry grassy spots after hitching them up.

We found a spot to sit that was dry. I started up a fire and got out some rabbit that I stole earlier. I stabbed it with a stick I had sharpened a while ago. I held it above the fire not trying to burn it. The rabbit hide was drying next to it.

It was an awkward silence for a while. Then I noticed the cat again. It looked like the cat was Elliotts.  The cat walked right over and just sat right in front of me. I didn't have anything. The cat was staring into my soul. Then it let out a deep growl like meow before jumping up into my face.

The force of the cat's pounce pushed my whole body onto the ground with a thud. Doing so made me drop the stick with the rabbit. The cat fell off  but I felt it climb back up and layed on my stomach . I pushed the cat off from discomfort. Elliott sent out a small chuckle then grabbed the cat. The cat sent out a small yelp when being picked up.

"Sorry about him, his name is Milo." he said with a small chuckle at the end.

"So he's yours?" I asked out of curiosity while I started stroking the cat.

"Yea i should've told you earlier, if you don't want him here I can leave." He said with a bit of doubt that I would let him stay.

"No, no, He's fine, you can stay, I like cats."   I quickly replied because I was actually getting a bit lonely. I was missing David and was thinking of how bad of a mother was

The cat ended up leaving us for a dry spot in the sun. I pulled the stick out of the fire to check the meat. Part of the rabbit was still raw but I tore that spot off to eat layer. I offered half of the good food to Elliott which he ended up taking willingly. It was clear he was hungry.

We ate them up quickly without leaving scrapes. The cat looked skinny so I fed him the spare rabbit, only because I would have never cooked it before it got old.  Milo grabbed it and ran off towards the horses. He seemed very happy to eat again.

I heard a bit of chatter amongst some nearby people. I tried to signal to Elliott that we had to hide so we wouldn't get caught. He didn't catch on so I grabbed his hand heading to the horses to hide. Unfortunately some guards saw us, which is not good.

I ran us both towards the horse's hearing the guards running behind us. I couldn't tell which kingdom they were from. We made it to the horses and quickly un-tied them, mounted up, and  started running .

We barely made it before the guards caught up. They started running back to where they were before they saw us so I thought they might have had horses too. I knew there was another spot we could go to but it was In luckaria's land. We didn't really have a choice so I started running towards the area.

It was pretty far away, but if we kept pace we could make it before sundown. After running for a while I realized we weren't being chased anymore so I slowed down to a trot to keep up with Elliott's horse. 

It felt like hours before we made it to the spot I found a while ago. It was by this cave-like area and it had a small lake nearby so we could wash up. The horse's got a drink while we settled down.

We tied the horses and I had the sudden revelation that we had left everything. If we try to go to sleep  with no blankets we will freeze to death. It was a risky decision, but we decided to go back. It was gonna be hard on the horse because they were already tired, so Elliott and I just agreed to let them rest the whole day tomorrow.

We mounted back up after untying them again. Then we headed off making sure to go easy and just walk mainly. When we got there it looked abandoned. I quickly panicked because I realized that the bag that had the headdress wasn't on me. I quickly got off in frustration hoping they didn't find it. I removed the rock out of the log I was hiding in and I saw the bag. With a sigh of relief I reached in and grabbed the bag.

I checked to see if everything was still in there. Gladly it was in there along with a small squirrel pelt I had managed to get.

I put the bag on and gathered all the blankets and food I had remaining. Then I took some rope and tied about 13 cut logs into a little bundle. Then, to make sure there was plenty of rope, I tied it to the saddle. I hoped the logs kinda drug behind Lucifer so it's less weight on his back.

I put most of the heavy things on Elliott's horse because he had informed me that his horse used to be a workhorse so he is very strong. I put the saddle on Lucifer because this whole time we had been bareback, well except for Elliott.

I made sure that the ropes that were connected to the wood and saddle wouldn't twist up while we rode. I didn't have to worry about it getting caught on anything because I knew a trail we could take that was smooth. We then took off. It started getting chilly so we put our thicker coats on. This would also help hide my face if we got stopped. Then we arrived at camp again. Surprisingly that felt quick.

tied the horses up and unpacked them. Then put a long rope tied to a tree, and put it on the horse's bridles. Letting them graze but also not wander away. We got the sleeping bags ready. He is lucky I had an extra wool blanket or he would have froze.

Elliott slept like a log. It was a rough day.,Well mainly for me. The night went by quickly. I kept waking up on and off because of the cold. Finally I felt the warmth of the sun come and I could get some better sleep.

We mainly just laid around the next day getting a supply of water and food while letting the horses rest.

The next morning I woke to the smell of something burning. I wondered if there was a fire nearby. I opened my eyes to look over and see Elliott had made a fire and was cooking something. I couldn't tell from the angle what it was.

"What are you making?" I asked confused.

"I caught a rabbit this morning so I'm cooking it, I hope," he said with a small laugh.

"What do you mean, you hope?"  I said really confused again.

"It's kinda burnt." He said, trying to hold a laugh in.

I slapped my forehead, how bad someone could be at cooking. Then we heard the sudden sound of gunshots. They didn't seem close but also not that far away. We kinda just looked at eachother. Then we heard another one a little closer. We waited a little longer but the gun shots had stopped.

We just rubbed it off as nothing and continued. We looked at what he was cooking. It looked like it was a rabbit but also like a charred log. I shoved it down my throat trying not to gag it up. It was so gross but I didn't want to be rude. After that I chugged some water.

I realized that we were near the wild herd of horses. We had a lot of stuff now since Elliott joined so we thought it was best to tame one to help with moving. We started walking towards the horses.

Then I felt it, I felt the squish. I didn't even have to look down to see what I just stepped in. I quickly but carefully, not to make it worse, ran to the lake. I rinsed it off so fast. We don't talk about it, then we finished tending to our horses. Then we tacked up and  then mounted up.

"We're pretty low on food. We should hunt some like a rabbit or 2." I said trying to convince him because he basically wasted the last one we had.

"Ok and by the way, you can stick with the cooking job," he said laughing. I smiled and took off. I could tell he was following from his horse sending out a loud neigh.

We took off running towards where I knew the herd would be found. It took us about 15 minutes to get there because they are in one area but also move around. We eventually found them, we stopped to try to decide which horse to team.

We spotted two horses that were separated from the group. We knew that two would be a struggle to tame but it was the easiest choice. I threw Elliott a rope after tying it like a lasso. Then we split off, both of us chasing after one of the horses. The horse that I was chasing was like a golden color. It was beautiful.

Finally I caught up with the horse trying to run right next to it. My horse was still a bit tired from the night before. Meaning I was a little bit behind the horse. That didn't really matter so I just went for it. I missed the first time so I wrapped the rope back up going in for another swing. Yet again I missed it. But luckily on the 3rd try I made it. It just barely made it.

Then I almost got yanked off of my horse. I was able to stay on. I was able to calm the horse down. It seemed like it was already pretty used to people. I dismounted to calm the horse. After a few minutes the horse got used to me. It was still a little nervous about the rope so I leaded it around a bit so it got used to it.

Finally Elliott came and surprisingly the horse he was chasing was following him just fine using the lead.

Then we headed home. The horses had a small issue about leaving the herd at first but then followed after we stopped and gave them some food, they didn't trust us feeding them at first.

We made it back and had to find a way to tie up the horses. We were able to find some sturdy logs and block off an area to put the horses. Doing so took the rest of our day away. And sat down for a bit after getting the horses comfortable.