"So what's the plan?"Liam asked while the three men looked at him. Then, again went back astray."Come on, stop worrying about the princess. She is already in our sight. Didn't you say, we need a plan?"
"Ya, "Leo replied, his attention back to Liam"Our plan is to fix the wheel tomorrow and set off. That's all."
"That simple? Then, why do we need a meeting then?"
"Well..."The guard exclaimed."We need to leave early in the morning and we can't have any more delay. We need to reach there by tomorrow..."
"Why? Do we really need to arrive there tomorrow?"
"Yes...If we continue to delay, people might send words to the king and you know...It won't end well for all of us."
Leo cut off their conversation.
"So? Is it enough?"Leo was looking at Pete as Pete was checking the wheel and material he bought.
"What?"Pete turned back to him, startled by his sudden attention to him."Oh, this? Well, I think it's enough but we kind of lack nails."
"How are we able to get that?"Liam added in.
"Well...There's a small town near here, you just have to follow this small path and you will be there...maybe around 5 minutes."Pete continued while pointing to a small trail, which led into the woods.
"I'll go!"Leo volunteered while Liam looked at him with shock.
"You just return!"
"So what?"He tilted his head, not bothered by the thought of going out again."I don't mind going out again so who's going with me?"
"Isn't Pete supposed to go with you? He knows where the town is."The guard asked.
"True...So you're coming, Pete?"
"Huh?"He seemed to be in loss of thought just now because he suddenly flinched when they mentioned his name and the guard, who was standing next to him, nudged him when he didn't reply."Oh, no. I won't follow...I need to do some more checkups and use the remaining material to fix the wheel. Like you say there's no time to lose..."
"Well, alright. So? Who's coming with me now? Or I'm going alone?"
"I'll join you!"Liam said."We're partners...right?"
Leo stared at him with shock, he didn't expect him to say that. Then, smiled.
"Yup! When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow...maybe when the sun is just up. Is it opened by that time?"Leo turned to face Pete and asked.
Pete nodded."Ya, it's open quite early."
"I'm kind of curious...How do you guys even meet?"
All of them switched in the same direction, looking at Liam. Then, they looked at each other as if asking who should say the story until Leo interrupted.
"Well...I guess I'll be storytelling then... it's kind of a long story..."
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A few hours earlier...
Leo and the guard were walking into the forest in search of material.
"So what are we finding?"The guard asked, clueless about what he was searching for.
"Oakwood and maybe if we're lucky, we find a town and ask someone for help," Leo replied as he looked around the place.
"Alright..."
They were walking deeper into the woods in silence, they didn't have any topics to talk about. Until the guard suddenly asked.
"How do you meet him?... Your friend."
"You mean Liam?"
"Yes...He seemed unfriendly and rarely talked.."
"Well, that's his nature. Can't change anything about it. He was a really tough guy to get along with...At first that is, you just need to give him some time and patience to let him adapt to you. That's what I did. Now, my turn!"
"What?"The guard asked, confused but Leo ignored his confusion.
"How long have you been working as a guard?"
"Huh? Oh, er...approximately a week ago...I'm still new."
"It must be hard to take care of the princess since you don't know her attitude."
"Ya, and she seems to hate me-"
"Help! Help me!"
The sound of an unknown person suddenly crashed into their conversation, it was faint but they were able to hear it. Leo and the guard dashed to the scream while pulling their swords out. The sound grew louder as they ran further away from their spot and into the bushy trees. When the sound was extremely loud and they knew they were close, it suddenly stopped. There was only silence while their panting breath was the only sound they could hear.
"What should we do?! It stops!"The guard asked Leo, panicked.
"We should find him!"Leo replied with determination shining in his eyes."We can't let an innocent soul die!"
"How are we going to find him?!"
"His voice was very loud just now...so, he should be around here somewhere...Let's split up, it will be much easier for us to find him."
They searched in separate parts near each other and soon Leo heard the guard yell.
"Hey, Leo! I found him!"He shouted while waving his hand, signaling Leo.
Leo saw him and jogged to him. Then, patted him on the shoulder.
"Nice job!"Leo praised as he smiled at him, then turned to look at the situation.
A man with blonde hair was laying inside a deep hole, he seemed to be unconscious as he didn't move nor shouted like before. Leo thought for a while before asking the guard.
"Do you have a rope? Or something that can lower me down there?"
"No, sorry..."The guard sighed as he looked absolutely sad and disappointed in himself.
"No need to be upset. It's alright! We can find another way."
Leo examined their surrounding area but couldn't find anything that could help them in their current situation. After a few seconds of thinking, Leo finally came to a conclusion.
"Let's wait for him to wake up," Leo said when he was sure this was the only hope.
"What?!"The guard yelled with shock."We can't do that! It will waste the princess's time!"
"But this is a human's life over here!"
"And that is a royalty!"
"A human's life is more important! The princess will understand!"
"No! We can't delay this trip any longer! Her time is precious-"
"What happened? Who are you two?"
A weak voice interrupted them, they turned to see the man, who fell down the deep hole awake.
"Sir," Leo spoke, immediately."How are you feeling? What happened?"
"I don't remember..."The man with blonde hair said, clueless as he rubbed his head.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"Leo continued.
"My head hurts and my back hurts too..."He said with a low and in pain voice.
"We need to think of some ways to help him!"Leo exclaimed as he looked at the guard.
The guard stared back, his expression was obviously irritated.
"We need to go back! Right now! We can't waste any more time!"He demanded as he pointed to the direction where they came from.
"We aren't going anywhere! We need to help him!"Leo argued.
The two of them glared at each other, not backing down until the man spoke again and disrupted their argument.
"Is there anything wrong?... Can I ask for your help to assist me out? Or are you perhaps in a rush?"The man asked in an unusually calm tone with no sign of panic.
"No, we can't-"
"Sure! We can help you!"
Leo cut the guard off and offered him assistance. The guard glared at him with dagger eyes as Leo peeked at him and smugged, shamelessly at him.
"How are we going to help you? We don't have a rope."
"I have one!"The man said as he reached for his bag.
He rummaged through his bag for some time, taking out other items in his bag before pulling out a thick rope. He then proceeded to shove all the random items back into his bag. After he was done, he looked up to the happy to help Leo and the being dragged along guard.
"Umm...The rope is here!"
"Yup, throw it up!"
The guy tried to throw his whole bundle of heavy, thick ropes up but ended up falling from the heavyweight while the bundle of rope was only lifted a little into the air and fell down hard on the ground in front of him.
"What a waste of time!"The guard yelled and stomped his foot."This dumbass can't even throw a rope-"
Leo pushed him away and he jumped a few steps away, almost falling down as he tried to regain his balance. As he was hopping with one leg, Leo talked to the man.
"Do you think you're able to hand me the rope from down there? I'll try to lower myself as much as possible."Leo asked as he lay on his stomach on the dirty ground.
"I'll try."The man said as he hastily got onto his feet and grabbed the rope in his arms."Here!"
The man stood on the tip of his toes and Leo reached out his hands to their fullest length. The rope was just a few inches away from Leo but he still couldn't grab it, it was right in front of him. He lowered himself a little lower and just a little closer and got it.
Leo took the end of the rope in his hands and quickly pushed himself up from the ground. His shirt was covered in dirt but he didn't care, he ran to a nearby tree and tied it. The guard was now back, balancing back on his feet. He was glaring at him with rage, his arms were crossed together. He stood in front of Leo when Leo was done tying. Leo ignored him and walked right, wanting to walk past him but the guard didn't allow that. He kept blocking everywhere he go, right then left repeatedly as he tried to pass him. Soon, Leo was pissed.
"What do you want?!"Leo shouted as he wanted to push him aside and walked front but he didn't.
"Did you just try to hurt a royal guard?!"The guard yelled, offendedly.
"So what if I did?! Guards are supposed to help the people in need but you didn't!"
"We protect the kings and queens, not normal people! Normal people come second! The royalties are always first!"
"You!"
"Please calm down...the both of you..."
They turned in the direction of the voice and saw the man, sitting tiredly on the ground. He must have climbed up on his own when we were arguing, Leo thought.
"Who do you think you are to tell us what we should do?! If it's not for us, you would still be down there!"The guard exclaimed, angrily while Leo wanted him to shut up.
"Yes, I know that. Thank you for saving me."He said while smiling which shocked Leo since the guard scolded him for doing nothing wrong but he didn't back down."You two need to calm down, ain't you both a team?"
"Well, we are until this guy decides to waste our time!"The guard glared at Leo as he said while Leo glared back.
"I'm only trying to help!"Leo said through gritted teeth.
"We're going to be late because of you and if the princess dislikes our delay, we're goners!"
"We're-"
"What do you mean by princess?"The man cut in, asking curiously.
"Oh, that...Our carriage broke down while going to another town. It's just a few miles away from here."
Leo pointed in the direction and the guard stared at him with the how dare you tell our whereabouts to anyone expression written all over his face. Leo ignored and the man spoke again, hesitantly.
"I know how to fix carriages. Do you need my assistants?"
Leo turned to him, stunned. Then, smiled, brightly.
"We do need help right now, thanks. What's your name? The name's Leo."
"Pete... and it's the tiniest favor, I can help you with. After all, you save my life."The man said while blushing, slightly.
"Come on, I'll lead you there."
All of them walked back in the direction where they came from. Leo led the path while the guard and Pete followed from behind, the guard kept glaring at him, suspiciously. Pete walked, uncomfortably with him, glaring at him from behind like a feeling of daggers stabbing his back. It was so hard to bear that he broke the silence and started a conversation.
"Do you have any material for the cart?"He asked, hoping to get him off of his back.
For some reason, Leo stopped and turned around to look at him. Then, to the guard.
"That's what we're supposed to do! I literally forgot!"Leo yelled as Pete flinched by his reaction.
"That's why I said we're wasting time! We haven't even got a single material!"The guard shouted and Leo turned his head away from him and to the confused Pete.
"What do we need? It's the wheel that's broken."
"We need woods..."Pete replied, then, gestured to his bag."I got the screw and other things we need here."
"Thanks!"
Leo ran away and disappeared into the woods, leaving the two of them alone. The guard didn't bother chasing him and stuck close to this guy, eyeing his every move.
After a few hours when the sky turned dark, Leo returned as he single-handedly carried all the wood logs on his shoulder. His clothes were drenched in his sweats as his sweats continued to drip down into his clothes. As he saw them, his face shifted into a bright and friendly smile as he dashed to them.
"I'm back! Look at all the woods I got! Is this enough?"He said as he looked at Pete.
"Yes...I think so...It actually depends on the damage..."Pete answered, hesitantly as he worried Leo will be upset since he was the one going to get the woods, especially with no help.
"Well...At least to you is enough. Huh...look at the time, it is almost night. Shall we go back?"
"Yes, "The guard suddenly spoke, then, he unexpectedly reached out his hands."I'll help you carry some...give them to me."
"Thanks but are you sure? It's kind of heavy..."
"Yes."
Leo split half of the woods to him and he stumbled a little. He seemed like he couldn't handle the weight but he acted like he could as he thought. How can he carry so much in one go?! My arms feel like they're about to break.
Leo, who knew he couldn't handle it since he was feeble-looking, asked.
"Are you alright? Can you take them?"
"Yeah...yes I can..."The guard said as he tried his best to act like he was fine but his body couldn't and the woods seemed like they were about to slip off of his arms.
Leo sighed and reached out his other hand and snatched some woods back from him.
"Hey! Why did you do that?!"The guard yelled as he felt that Leo was underestimating him but it did feel easier to carry after he took some away.
"Well, you seem like you're struggling..."Leo said, not sure what he should do since this guard didn't want to admit he was weak.
The guard, who still didn't want to admit his weakness but had to since he couldn't carry anymore opened his mouth and shut it, he couldn't think of a combat to say.
"Why don't I help you carry some?"Pete suddenly asked but Leo shook his head.
"You're hurt from what happened earlier instead of helping me, you need rest."
"Thank you for caring about me but..."
"No, but... please. You're willing to help us to repair our carriage is enough."
Pete wanted to say something to object but didn't and remained silent. Then, nodded.
"Let's go back, it's already late. Liam and the princess must be worried sick."
All of them went back to the carriage.
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"And that's how we ended up finding him..."Leo ended the story of their long afternoon journey.
"So that's how you find him..."Liam said, then, switched his gaze to the guard."You're sure an ass on that trip."
"Huh?!"The guard exclaimed as Leo and Pete looked at Liam with shock. Then, the guard marched to him with his fist clenched, tightly together."How dare you say this to a royal guard!"
Leo and Pete immediately snapped out of their stunned reaction and dashed in front of the guard, blocking his path.
"We don't have to fight, we all just need to calm down. It's been a long day, I know we're all tired so..." Leo said but was suddenly cut off by Pete.
"Let's all go to sleep and forget about everything that just happened. We all need to wake up early in the morning after all."Pete said and the guard still stared at Liam with dart eyes but soon stopped since there was no point in arguing.
"Fine!"The guard yelled and marched away back to the princess, who was still awake but judging from her looks, she was in deep thought.
"Thanks!"Leo whispered to Pete and then turned to Liam."Why did you try to pick a fight with him? I do agree you calling him an ass but you know, we need each other right now. "
"I don't know...But I do know I'm sleepy right now. Good night..."Liam said as he walked away, heading in the princess's direction.
Leo and Pete stared at each other and Leo sighed.
"Come on. We need sleep too."Leo gestured to their place and both of them walked side by side to the princess.