Don't Underestimate Our Sneakiness {Henry}

[Deleted]

The man that the knife had been aimed at took it to the hand, crying out in rage and pain as it pierced his palm. The others lunged for the boy and the girl, attempting to grab one of them. The leader, who’s hand had been pierced by knife yelled, “The boy, grab the little runt!!”
 
Before Henry could reach the young soldier two of them grabbed him, each holding an arm to keep him in place and brought him before the leader.
 
“The girl sir,” said one of the others.
 
“You won’t catch her now…with any luck the scouts will,” said the leader slowly removing the knife from his hand, the pain showed on his face but it was mixed with anger, “lets deal with the boy.”
 
One of the other men handed him a strip of cloth and he slowly began to wrap it around the bleeding hand, all the time looking at Henry. “That wasn’t very nice, what you did, you understand you’re going to have to pay for that now. It’s all a part of our system here, you see? Justice. You make a mistake, you do wrong…you pay the price. Like our young friend here.”
 
He motioned to the young soldier with Henry’s knife, “boy shouldn’t have been out so far from the camp, some would say he was maybe making a run for it.”
 
“No, no sir, I swear I wasn’t, I wasn’t, I swear,” said the young boy, pleading, as the other two soldiers grabbed him, “I’m not a deserter, I was patrolling, I-”
 
“Cut his feet off,” said the leader.
 
“NO! PLEASE! NO!” said the young soldier as the other two carried him away.
 
The leader turned round to look at Henry again with a smile,” now lets see…you hurt my hand…maybe I’ll take yours.”
 
One of the men raised Henry’s right arm, holding the hand out as the leader moved forward with the knife…

[Deleted]

Erikson heard the commotion of the soldier. As second in command he was in charge of the army and nothing failed to slide under his radar. He broke through the trees, an imposing figure, taking in the scene before him. His men looked like they were about to hack off the hand of some boy who was very clearly not a soldier and definitely not from Wayron. “Stop, you men,” he ordered and the soldiers stopped what they were doing immediately. They didn’t let the boy go, but they were no longer holding his hand out to be hacked off. It was an improvement anyway.

The man in charge of the others shuffled his feet a bit. “Caught a spy,” he told the older man. “I was just about punish him for slicing my hand with his knife. Permission to resume, sir?” he asked.

Erikson looked down his nose at the man. He was some officer that had let the power of his new position go to his head it seemed. Really, he was only marginally better than the foot soldiers. “Permission not granted. Move aside. I’ll deal with the boy.” He pushed the officer out of his way, then stared down Henry for a moment. The other soldiers were silent.

“You’ll have to forgive my men,” he told the boy politely. “Some of them are a bit rougher than they need to be. So, you’ve come to spy, eh? I’m sorry to say that you won’t be getting much information. We don’t typically take kindly to spies in our midst.” The words were all polite and kind, spoken in a conversational tone. Erikson could be polite when the occasion called for it, but he much preferred to get his hands a bit dirty.

He turned back to the officer, stepping away from Henry. “Carry on, men,” he continued, still conversationally, but allowing the soldiers to cut off the boy's hand. “As you were.” Then he made is if to stroll away casually. Whether or not he would stick around was yet to be decided.

[Deleted]

As Henry dove into the fight, he said, "Mostly," in response to Astrid's question of his sanity. He didn't expect to get far, so when he was pulled up short he wriggled a bit but ultimately resigned to his fate. Initially he was just grateful that Astrid had gotten away. Finally, he'd managed to do something right.

Or perhaps not so right. His face blanched as he realized that he himself was now in danger, and from the screams of the young soldier who had been carted away, the danger seemed quite real. As the leader spoke, Henry's mind went blank. He couldn't think of anything to do, couldn't process what was even happening. It was only as they held his arm out that he began to protest.

"No," he whispered, unable to believe, then began shouting. "No, wait, no, you don't understand! You can't do this to me, I'm...I'm..." He tried unsuccessfully to pull his hand away, but halted when he heard the imposing voice of someone who was clearly a commander.

Looking up at the man, Henry resisted the urge to whimper. He was saved, he was...he was... "No," he croaked, then coughed and tried again. "No, I'm not a spy I'm a hunter, I mean I'm hunting, I'm just a kid, how could I be a spy?" But even as he tried to argue the man was walking away.

Shrieking just as the soldier did, Henry stared at his right hand, caught in the meaty hands of one of the soldiers. He flexed it and made a fist, scared to let even a single finger show in case it would be lopped off. At first his screams were insensible, then he started babbling, anything to try to get himself free.

"No, wait, don't do this. You can't. I'm just a kid, I don't deserve this...I'm the prince! You can't do this to a prince!" Inwardly he begged Astrid to come back, but as he opened his mouth to call out for her he reflectively bit down on his tongue, hard enough to draw blood. He wasn't about to sacrifice himself only to have her get caught because he was a coward.

The pain in his mouth forced him to focus on something else for a moment, and that instant was enough for him to think up a quick plan. He still had a knife at the small of the back which he could access, at least more easily than the ones strapped to his calves. He flailed around for a moment in an effort to disguise his actions to grab his knife and slide it up his sleeve.

"I'm the prince," he said again, straightening even though his legs were shaking. "You don't want to do this to me." He wasn't sure what angle to go with. Threatening? Pleading? What would get these people's attention? In the end he decided on simply standing firm and waiting for an opening where there might only be one person between him and freedom. Of course, he had to hope something would happen relatively soon.

He stared at the knife as it started to come toward him, trying to look brave while still squirming his hand around and trying to pull it free. Despite all his brave plans to try to be a hero and get himself out, he couldn't wrench his gaze from his own arm.

[Deleted]

Were they even bothering to chase her? Astrid pulled to a stop, turning swiftly, her axe leaping to her hand as though the two were connected in some manner. She immediately began scanning the area behind her, looking for even the slightest hint that something was out of place. Hours of lessons from Artemis rose unbidden to her mind, mixed with tracking knowledge passed on from Viking to Viking in Berk. All of it painted a very clear picture for Astrid: she was alone, and not being followed.

She spat a curse. They should have been following her. She was clearly the bigger threat out of the two of them. They hadn't even bothered? Astrid was insulted: dishonored to her very core. Growling, she used her off hand to dig out a much smaller axe from her belt. It was, technically speaking, a throwing ax, and thus perfectly situated for use in ranged combat. Even better: Astrid had trained nonstop with this thing. As if all that weren't enough: she had the element of surprise on her side.

"I've totally got this," she murmured. She shifted her grip on her weapons, starting forward again, using all the considerable stealth skills she possessed. Then, suddenly, there was a blur of brown, and something leaped from the bushes at Astrid. She felt her instinct kick into gear, her axe jerking up. The flying missile seemed to know this, and twisted, moving to actually grab the handle of the axe. Soon, a panting Astrid was staring at a panting squirrel.

"Arrow?"

There was another sound, one coming from the direction the squirrel had. Arrow chittered, flicked his tail, and tilted his head toward the direction. Astrid rose, pulling back her axe and preparing to deliver a sneaking trooper an attack he'd never see coming.

[Deleted]

There was a pure moment when the boy thought he was saved from such a gruesome fate. Erikson was quite pleased in fact. For just as the moment had passed, the fear was back. And the lies. Really they were terrible lies. Erikson knew what a hunter looked like. This boy was no hunter. He was a stupid child and he would be shown just what the Wayron army was capable of.

Ah, the sweet screams of a truly terrified person. It was wonderful. Erikson was enjoying this child immensely. However, it did throw a wrench in his plans when the boy confessed that he was a prince. Well, that would just not do. Erikson wasn’t overly fond of princes. They tended to be arrogant and cocky and far too easy to manipulate. Erikson had only ever had time for one prince who was now a king. The rest he could do without. However, this situation needed to be remedied.

Erikson turned back around to face the boy, looking less than impressed. “Well, boy, what are you?” he questioned. “First you were a hunter. Now you’re a prince.” He motioned to the soldiers to let go of his arm. There was no point in talking to someone so hysterical that they couldn’t speak. “You know, boy, we don’t take kindly to liars either. Perhaps I should have your tongue cut out as well as your hand. That’s what we do to liars in Wayron.” Erikson looked to the soldiers for confirmation and they nodded as well.

“Even if you are a prince, I can’t say that would keep you alive for long.” He shrugged, his palms facing upward. “Unless of course you can give me a good reason for keeping you alive I can’t see any reason to. You’re spying on my army and lying to me. I have no reason to keep you alive. You can’t be trusted.” Erikson clasped his hands behind his back, waiting for a response.

[Deleted]

Henry glared at the man, realizing that he was just toying with him at this point. The soldiers were still ringed so that there was no hope of him escaping on his own. Sighing, he realized he would have to try to pull a trick on this one. Try being the key word, of course.

"I'm not lying," he said, letting his voice tremble a bit. This guy was feeding off his fear, well, Henry would be afraid. "I am a prince. I'm the crown prince of my kingdom on the other side of the portals, and I was out with--" Almost too late he caught himself. He didn't want to remind people more about Astrid than he absolutely had to, hoping they might forget. "my weapons, trying to practice my hunting. I didn't even realize you were over this way, honest, sir."

He was hoping the guy wasn't a magician or a mind-reader. Then, of course, Henry was sunk.

"If you want, sir, I could try to help you. I...I know some of the land around here. I even have a map, so I could go out hunting and not get lost. Maybe I could tell you about the town? Only please, sir, don't hurt me. What if you cut off my hand and then it gets infected and I die? And then they would come after me, and I wouldn't be able to help you, and oh, please, just don't hurt me." He knew he was babbling, and a fair amount of it was heartfelt. Henry didn't try to hide his emotions just then, other than the anger he was feeling at having been caught.

"If you...if you just take me back to your camp...I can tell you everything. I promise." He tried to yank his right hand away and forced a tear to form in his eye by pricking his finger on his hidden dagger. By stalling, he hoped, he might get a chance to learn a little more about the army and give Astrid time to go back and fetch help, trusting she was still safe.

[Arthur]

Arthur came through the bushes his sword already drawn ready to strike whoever was posing the danger on the other side. Relief showed on his face when he saw that it was Astrid, not only that but that she was still in one piece as well. He had been scouting the area, trying to get a good look at the forces when he had seen the young man being dragged back to the camp. Hearing more shouted he had headed in this direction.

Walking towards her he kept the weapon unsheathed and said, “Were you there? Did you see what happened?”

Before she could reply there were more shouts and turning around in that direction he beckoned for her to follow him as he ran towards it. He didn’t have any second thoughts of having a woman back him up, Astrid had proven to him before that she was handy with a mace, he did not doubt her skill. And maybe he thought that his own skill would be enough for the two of them.

Entering the clearing he realised that charging in may not have been the best idea. He was outnumbered by a few…but that didn’t mean anything to him. There was a young man who appeared to be pleading with another older man. He recognised the boy but from where he didn’t know so he focused his attention on the man.

Smiling with his sword still raised he said, “Let the young man go…”

[Deleted]

Arrow, having discharged his duty of fetching Arthur and leading him to Astrid, whether the humans acknowledged his awesome work or not, scampered up to the girl. Astrid paused for only a moment while the creatures skittered up her body. Arthur seemed nearly as surprised to see her as she was him, and there was the traditional staring at one another and trying to figure out what was going on.

The screams got their attention though. Astrid turned, moving so quickly that she nearly dislodged her animal companion. There was little doubt in her mind who those screams belonged to: Henry. It likely meant that they were torturing him or something. She spat a curse, promising to Thor that she was going to beat the every loving snot out of those soldiers if it killed her. She certainly didn't need Arthur's gesture to start heading in that direction; she'd already long since started heading that way herself.

So Astrid burst in just behind Arthur, coming to stand alongside him. The heavily armed Viking looked every inch the Valkyrie she was likely to become, and she hefted her axe, looking at the soldiers like a cat looks at mice. She nodded to Henry. "Him," she clarified, backing up Arthur, "intact. Or else you won't be."

[Deleted]

Did this boy honestly think that Erikson was going to fall for another of his terrible lies then he had another thing coming. The general hadn’t made it this far without using his head, which it seemed the boy didn’t know how to do. It was only logical to think that this little prince was most likely not in line for the throne, otherwise they might have taught him to use his head a bit better. Or perhaps not. After all, there were days when he was quite certain Willhelm was just an idiot. He was lucky to have Erikson to look out for him.

Erikson looked at the boy a bit patronizingly as he began to lie again. And then, oh dear he really was a terrible liar, which only benefited the general. He had given Erikson a vital piece of information. He had been with someone. He turned to one of his soldiers, the idiots. “Who was he with?” he asked quickly and with a bit of heat. These soldiers were bumbling idiots.

“There was a girl, Sir,” one of the soldiers said, not able to make eye contact with the general.

Erikson was furious. The girl was here and now she wasn’t here. “Where is she?” he demanded, rage filling his voice. They had let the girl get away and she could be off getting help for this bumbling idiot of a prince. He wasn’t even paying attention to what the child was saying. He begging to spare or something as if Erikson cared. It might have been a precious moment had the general not been furious with his men.

“She got away. We didn’t go after her.”

“Never underestimate a woman,” he warned his men. Oh, these men were going to be punished as soon as Erikson had dealt with the boy. At the moment he was planning on just dispatching the boy. The faster he did it, the faster he could get back to disciplining his soldiers.

Just as Erikson had drawn his sword a boy and a girl appeared and they were armed. Well, they had perfect timing to watch their friend’s beheading. “That’s the girl, Sir,” one of the soldiers pointed out.

So this was the girl. A pretty thing, but demanding the boy back. Erikson arched a brow. “And you think I’m just going to let my prisoner go?” he asked. “He’s a spy and a liar. He’s also trespassing, as are the both of you. Why shouldn’t I just kill you all now?” He was a good deal less furious now, but he still had a mind to punish his men. Violently.

[Deleted]

It wasn't working. None of Henry's plans were working; they knew about Astrid and he was going to get his hand chopped off and they were going to kill him and then they would kill everyone and it was all just going to hell. He looked for an opening but there was no way for him to surprise these guys. He was beginning to lose hope.

That, of course, was when Arthur the bold, Arthur the brave, Arthur the glorious jerk strode into the clearing, his teeth shining brighter than any gum commercial. Of course the idiot was smiling. Henry would have made a choice remark about this and how he could handle himself without needing a knight to come to his rescue, but that was when Astrid came up behind the knight.

Ah, Henry thought. Backup. Not his first choice, but at least the guy was good as a distraction. As the soldiers turned to look at the newcomers, Henry swung his knife up into the arm of the man holding him and jerked his arm away. He dropped to the ground--he was better at wrestling, anyway--and rolled away toward the outer guard, away from the man with the sword out.

"Feel free to join in at any time guys," he said, half to himself and half hoping that Astrid and Arthur would hear. As such it came out in only a half-shout which he wasn't even sure anyone could hear. "I can only run for so long." He aimed a kick upward at one of the men's knees and looked around for a spear he could grab to fend away any blades until he was able to crawl totally out of the way and into the woods. There, he thought, he would have a chance, and it was toward the trees that he kept inching.

[Arthur]

Not taking his eyes off of Erikson he said, “Trespassing? This land isn’t yours yet and never will be. Now, I don’t want to have first blood here but if your men don’t back off then I’ll be forced too-”

Of course before he could finish Henry turned and stabbed the arm of the man that had been holding him. Well that certainly complicated matters. Arthur felt a bubbling of rage within him as the boy began to wrestle with the solider. He wanted to give them warning, give them a chance to run back and now that had been taken from them. A situation that could have had the slightest chance of being resolved in something passing for civil had now been taken.

He would deal with Henry later.

The other soldiers were advancing. Pointing to the two on the left he called out, “They’re all yours. And keep an eye on the idiot before he gets himself killed,” said Arthur shooting a glare down at Henry.

He moved off in the direction of the other two soldiers dispatching them far too easily by causing one to trip and fall back, knocking his head off the trunk of the tree, the other, tripping over the other to be smacked on the head by the hilt of Arthur’s sword. These men weren’t real fighters. He imaged Astrid would have easily defeated her two soldiers as well. What was going on here? He had expected better.

Turning to the older man, he said, “where did you get these men? Drunkards and Thugs, not men of substance by the looks of things. Is this what your army is made of?”

[Deleted]

"that's more like it!" cheered Astrid. She whipped her hand, sending a handaxe spinning from her belt. Likely the poor soldier never saw it coming: he'd go down hard, nursing a wound in his leg. Astrid hardly needed orders to do some serious damage. Barely had Henry started moving when she'd done that, and Arthur's instruction was more pointing her in the right direction. The Viking actually cheered as she whipped her axe at the guy. A few blows were exchanged, while the shaking, shivering guard took a few steps back. At last, Astrid caught him on his sword-arm, stopping just short of actually disarming him before bringing the butt of her weapon up.

Barely short of breath, Astrid blew a spare strand of hair out of her before turning back to the leader. "The prince is right," she said, nodding. She shifted her grip on the axe, pointing its now slightly red head toward the leader. "Where's the challenge here? I've fought squirrels that were more difficult than that."

As if to prove her point, Arrow arrived, clambering up Astrid. He began chirping and motioning toward the trees, though Astrid did what she so often did with her animal companion: she ignored him.

[Deleted]

Erikson had really had enough of these children. Didn’t they know that children were meant to be seen and not heard? Clearly their education hadn’t done much to teach them anything in the way of manners either. Well, when he took control of Trenale he’d be sure to teach the brats a lesson they’d never forget. He was sure the King would be all for his plan once he explained everything to him.

The General was even more displeased that these children seemed to be fighters. Moreover, it was embarrassing that his soldiers were so easily dispatched. He supposed that was what he got for forcing convicts to fight in the army. However, he had better soldiers and if he didn’t then he would train better soldiers. He was second command which gave him the right to give orders and of course he could get that idiot Willhelm to agree to anything he had to say.

Still, he was displeased with this whole scenario. He’d have to fix this and fast because apparently the blonde boy was also a prince. The girl would probably turn out to be some kind of warrior princess. Erikson wouldn’t be surprised, but he hated having to deal with royals. All of them, including that great oaf Willhelm.

His eyes flicked between the blondes, becoming more displeased by the moment. “They’re convicts actually,” he corrected, refusing to show his displeasure. “You’re impressive, but this is only the front line. Now, run along home so you can tell your mum you’re alright.” He made a shooing motion with his hand. There was no need to tell them that Wayron had better soldiers. Erikson would rather have the citizens of Trenale underestimate the strength of Wayron. Then Erikson could step forward and crush them all.

[Deleted]

Thankfully for the untrained prince, his two companions from the school were more than capable handling the soldiers. While this was a little upsetting in terms of manly prowess, it did mean that Henry was able to crawl into the woods and away from the clearing without any real disruption. When he had crawled into the shadows a ways he stood and began making his way around the treeline, keeping one ear tuned in to the fight and subsequent intimidation in the clearing.

Of course, he couldn't quite forget the soldier who had been dragged off to have his feet chopped off. Were those soldiers still out there? Would they be coming back? Had it all been a ploy and they were now waiting in the forest? And if it wasn't, maybe they should go back and help the young soldier...he could even give good information if they were able to rescue him. Not to mention it was the right thing to do.

As he walked carefully through the trees, he heard a rustling to his left and his deer companion stepped out of the woods. He rested one hand on the animal's back and continued to walk into the relative safety of the area behind Astrid and Arthur.

He emerged just behind the other two students, just in time for the last comment. "We should take him captive," he said quietly to them. "And then go back. We can't storm the enemy camp with just the three of us. But I bet that guy knows a lot. And we'll be safe once we make it back to the school, I think everyone there can protect us."

Made sense to him, anyway. And it sounded a lot better than leaving this guy out here to send more troops after them once they trotted off.

"We should probably go soon, though. They're probably going to come looking for everyone really quick, and we don't want to be around then. This mission has already tanked pretty badly. I think I can get us out of the woods and back to the car from here--I can take us the straightest path out of the area."