"Why the hell are we here?!" Nora questioned as they walked into Orion's castle. "Well, we need a cover while we're here, so.... I got us a job!". She stared at her and said "I'm sorry, what?". Orion then walked over and said "Ah, great you're here. I suppose Charlotte explained the logistics of your job?". Nora looked at him and said "No.". Something you don't see often.... He laughed.
He laughed for a whole few minutes before saying "Oh god! Okay.... Your job while in my kingdom is to clean the guest rooms!". Nora stopped thinking for a second and said "You stupid fuck!".
.
After cleaning, Charlotte decided to check the rooms the two were staying in, as it had been a decent week since they had arrived. "Nora, open up!" Charlotte said knocking on her door. "In a minute!". Charlotte opened the door saying "How hard is it to-". She just stared in awe at the mass amount of trash and shiny objects littered around the room. "Welcome to my palace!".
She glared at her and said "YOUR 'PALACE' LOOKS LIKE A BIRDS NEST!". She winced a bit and said "No it's not! Over there is my pile of shiny loot, next to it is the really expensive stuff-". "Clean, please!" Charlotte said resisting the urge to clean it herself. "Hey, Black and Gold, I might know how to get a message-". Orion stopped talking staring at the room with utter disgust.
"CLEAN." He said firmly. He cleared his throat and said "Anyways, I might have found out how to get you back to your kingdom. I have a few messenger birds, and-". He didn't get to finish as the two sped off.
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"MAX! MAXMAXMAXMAMAXMAXMAX-" Natalie said running up to the man. "Jesus- could you calm down?! I haven't seen you this excited since.... ever." He responded covering her mouth. "Nora sent us a letter!" Natalie said opening it. She began to read out loud:
"Dear Friends,
Unfortunately I'm stuck in the Permafrost kingdom with Lucas not far behind. The princess is with me, along with a rabbit named Lucky. See you soon~".
The two thought for a second and Max said "I'm gonna go grab the strongest bottle of alchohol from the back, and then try to read that again.".
.
Back where Charlotte's letter is, the messenger bird gets shot out of the sky by an arrow. When it hits the ground someone goes over to it and removes the arrow. ".... Ah, so that's where she is." A woman's voice said. She then looked in a certain direction and said "Time to claim my prize.".
.
"Alright, there's a boat leaving this evening, we've got until then to board it." Nora said packing her stuff. "And, this boat is heading where?" Charlotte questioned. "Oh well it's- EEK!". She jumped up onto the bed and Charlotte said "What's wrong?". She tracked Nora's vision and saw a small little mouse. It was black with a couple white spots, dirt staining the fur. Charlotte's eyes glowed before picking it up.
"Throw it out the window!" Nora yelled. "You, princess of thieves, stealer of my crown, and responsible for breaking into not one, but TWO castles, are afraid of mice?" Charlotte teased her. "It is an incredibly rational fear!" She said backing away. A few minutes later Charlotte came back with the mouse completely clean, a little bowtie on it.
"I dub thee: Regenold. He is now under my protection!" Charlotte said holding him up for her to see. "You can't keep adopting random animals we find, first the rabbit, now this!" Nora said. She placed him in the basket, watching as him and Lucky shared a carrot. "I've noticed a few things. For one, you don't like to wear dresses, you don't clean your room, and you honestly haven't had a pet for a single day of your life!".
Nora sighed and said "Let's just-.... Do you hear that?". Nora looked out the window and stepped to the side, dodging an arrow. "WE NEED TO LEAVE!" She said grabbing Charlotte running. The two made it outside where a black hooded figure fired another arrow. "Don't let one of them cut you, they're doused in Nightshade. One touch, and you'll be dead within a day!".
"Do you know this one too?!" Charlotte asked as they ran towards the boat. "It's leaving early! We need to go!". Charlotte broke free of her hold and said "STOP! I'm not going anywhere until you explain!". "Just hurry up before-". "Nora sweetie, what is it you think you're doing?". Nora's blood ran cold and she looked behind Charlotte to see the woman.
The woman had raven colored hair, red eyes, and looked similar to Nora, but more older features. She was a foot taller than her and said "I'm guessing that the wretched thing next to you is princess Charlotte Evergreen, right?". Nora backed up from her Charlotte saying "Who are you?!". The woman laughed and said "I'm Emily Night, the Merciless Moth.
She looked toward Nora and Nora said ".... Get on the boat.". Charlotte looked at her and said "What?". Nora took out a dagger and said "GET ON THE BOAT!". Charlotte ran towards the boat, while Nora stayed back. "Nora darling, always the emotional girl. I thought I taught you to be heartless, brutal.... Not some bitch helping a queen without a crown!" Emily said firing an arrow at her.
Nora dodged the arrow, and threw the knife at her. She moved out of the way looking back to see Nora jumping onto the boat. Her and Charlotte got down and Nora said "Okay, we should be fine!". She stood up and helped Charlotte up, saying "This'll take us deeper into the kingdom, we'll be safe there!". Charlotte looked behind her and saw the woman draw an arrow.
"LOOK OUT!" Charlotte said pushing her. A *shink* was heard as Nora slowly looked to see the arrow in her arm. "Charlotte!" She heard falling unconscious.