the rain had stopped a while ago and it was turning afternoon, the forest terrain had became difficult to traverse after the rain, walking through mud, sticks, stones and potentially venomous snakes and insects was not easy, Hussnain had been walking for quite some time he had lost his pursuers and was hoping to find his friends quickly he was in a dense region of the forest when he heard the rustling of bushes, thinking that it might be the mercenaries Hussnain became alert but just then Humzah emerged from the bushes, seeing Humzah Hussnain became relieved as he asked
Hussnain : Humzah are you alright?
Humzah : thankfully yes.
Hussnain : did you lose those mercenaries?
Humzah : yeah but at a big cost.
Hussnain : did they spare you for emeralds?
Humzah : I distracted them with my jar of cookies.
Humzah grabbed his stomach and said
with a sad face
Humzah : and now I'm so hungry.
Hussnain hilariously remarked
Hussnain : oh how terrible!
before bursting out into laughter
Humzah rolled his eyes, just then they heard rustling again as Hussnain said
Hussnain : be careful.
as he pulled out his sword
just then from the bushes came walking out Nizaam, he was covered in leaves top to bottom as Humzah asked
Humzah : what happened to you?
Nizaam : those mercenaries wouldn't stop chasing me, so I covered myself in leaves and pretended to be a tree.
Hussnain : don't tell me it wor ....
Nizaam cut Hussnain off by saying
Nizaam : it worked.
Humzah : guess we're dealing with someone whose IQ is in the negative.
the three laughed but just then from the bushes came walking out Aliza and she was in a miserable state, she had twigs in her hairs, eyes filled with tears, Leaves and scratches all over her clothes, seeing this the 3 ignored whatever they were doing and rushed to check on her as Hussnain held Aliza's hands and asked
Hussnain : Aliza sweetie are you alright?
Humzah : where's Alyne?
Aliza wiped the tears from her eyes and said
Aliza : she told me to keep running and to get to safety, she stayed behind.
Aliza whimpered and said
Aliza : she fought alone.
Hussnain tightly hugged Aliza and said
Hussnain : their their it's Ok.
Nizaam looked back and asked
Nizaam : hold on where's Aaron?
Humzah : hmm.
Nizaam : guys Aaron's missing.
Humzah : first Alyne than Aaron, I hope Ashhad and Zulqarnain are ok.
meanwhile Ashhad, Zulqarnain and Kainaat were going through the forest, Ashhad and Zulqarnain were on feet while Kainaat was on her horse, Skull crusher had gotten away so now their main goal was to regroup with their friends, while walking Zulqarnain said
Zulqarnain : pardon me miss, I forgot to ask your name.
Kainaat : Syeda Kainaat Fatima.
this rang a bell in Zulqarnain's head as he said
Zulqarnain : huh, I've heard that name before but, where?
Ashhad : she was one of the four candidates in the princely elections.
Zulqarnain : really, what place did you, scored?
Kainaat : 2nd.
Ashhad opened his inbox, inside was an email as he said
Ashhad : hey Zulqarnain I've received an email.
Zulqarnain : well open it.
Ashhad opened and read the email as he said in an annoyed tone
Ashhad : they revoked my citizenship.
Zulqarnain : sad.
Ashhad : they must've revoked yours to.
Zulqarnain : what makes you think that?
Ashhad : check your inbox?
Zulqarnain did and sure enough, his citizenship had been revoked as well as he sarcastically said
Zulqarnain : it took only one bad move for me to become a refugee in my own Kingdom.
Ashhad : the feelings mutual.
Kainaat : so how big is your clan?
Ashhad : Clan?
Kainaat : just minutes ago you were fighting Ortania's most honorable minister, only someone who has a lot of political power or manpower would do such a thing.
Zulqarnain : don't you dare call that asshole honorable, he lied to me and broke my trust, I'll never forgive him.
Ashhad : Kainaat I have no political power nor do I have a lot of manpower.
Kainaat stopped her horse turned it towards Ashhad and asked
Kainaat : then why was the minister of defense trying to kill you?
Ashhad : well ... you see ...
Zulqarnain : we stood up for the rights of a third gender and apparently that made us enemies of the nation.
Kainaat : you're joking, right?
Ashhad : I'm afraid he's not.
Kainaat grabbed her head and said
Kainaat : oh Lord, what have I gotten my self into.
Ashhad : you're free to go, we never requested your help in the first place.
Kainaat : (sigh) they've seen my face, even if we seperate paths what are the chances they won't come for me later.
Zulqarnain : well I guess you can stay with us.
Ashhad : yeah our team isn't an all boys group, we also have two girls who are just as nice as you are.
Kainaat : oh I can ensure you I'm not nice at all.
Ashhad : but you are still a girl.
suddenly Kainaat's expression changed to an angry one as she said
Kainaat : I'll let that slide since we've just met, had you known me I'd woop your ass for that statement.
Ashhad : what statement?
Kainaat : the girl one, I hate it when someone underestimates me because of my gender.
Kainaat turned her horse back to the path they were walking on and continued walking, Ashhad and Zulqarnain began following, Ashhad came to Zulqarnain and whispered in his ears
Ashhad : I think she's a bit crazy.
Zulqarnain whispered back
Zulqarnain : a bit, I think she's completely nuts.
Ashhad : yeah but she's good at fighting though.
Zulqarnain : well lets not try to piss her off then.
they continued walking but, just then Kainaat saw movement in the bushes, so she stopped and said
Kainaat : someone's coming, get ready.
Ashhad and Zulqarnain became alert, just then from the bushes came walking out Hussnain, seeing him Ashhad said
Ashhad : Hussnain.
Ashhad ran upto his friend and asked
Ashhad : are you alright?
Hussnain : yes.
behind him Humzah came out from the bushes as Ashhad said
Ashhad : Humzah thank God you're OK.
Aliza and Nizaam came out as well, that was when Zulqarnain noticed that Alyne and Aaron were missing, so he asked
Zulqarnain : where are Aaron and Alyne?
Humzah : we couldn't find them.
Ashhad : let's hope their Ok.
Hussnain : hey whose that hot chick on the horse?
Zulqarnain : don't say that out loud.
Ashhad : she's Kainaat and let's just say she has some issues.
Hussnain : what type of issues?
just then Kainaat shouted
Kainaat : you know I can hear you right!
Zulqarnain turned back to Kainaat and said
Zulqarnain : Kainaat these are our friends Hussnain Zafar, Humzah Asad, Aliza Ahmed and Nizaam.
Kainaat : which one you is the third gender?
Nizaam raised his hand as Kainaat jokingly said
Kainaat : buddy you're either really unlucky or this Kingdom is ruled by a bunch of idiots.
Nizaam : I'd say the latter.
the group had a good laugh.