Flipsalot: HTF Medieval Fantasy AU

Bringing The Seer Home

By the time they exited the cliff side, it was already nightfall.

The path they took before was now obscured by a sea of shadows. The forest they had entered from was no longer recognizable. The trees were no longer there, as they had been replaced by crooked shapes— resembling claws of beasts than that of branches. The once gentle breeze was now a harsh wind, which brought with it a cold foreboding whisper.

"Oh dear, did anybody bring a torch or lantern?" Flipsalot piped up.

"No, our "generous king" didn't think to send us off with one." Mouse groaned, carefully stepping around so that his foot would not get caught by rogue tree roots.

"Perhaps he was expecting us to come back sooner?" Sneaky walked bedside Mouse, occasionally chuckling as he watched the smaller man stumble about.

"Well, hopefully we're close. I can't tell where we are right now, if I'm honest." Flippy sighed.

The Seer, who had been silent since they left the cliff side, was holding onto Flippy's shoulders as they rode upon the horse with him. If it weren't for their grip, Flippy wouldn't have been able to tell the seer was still with them.

"Stop!" The Seer suddenly spoke out, loud enough for the three to hear without making too much of a disturbance.

Flippy flinched, quickly making the horse stop dead in it's tracks. "What's the matter, Seer?"

The three stood in the middle of a large opening in the woods. The pale moonlight was just barely visible, but it did provide them enough light to make out their current surroundings a bit better.

"Draw your weapons" The Seer squeaked out anxiously, as if they were expecting something bad to happen.

"Hey sweetheart, what's wrong? You aren't fearful of the trees, are you?" Mouse teased playfully, not understanding the weight of the situation.

There was silence. And then, laughter.

"Mouse, that wasn't funny. The Seer is worried about something!" Flippy glared down.

"...That was not me." Mouse glared back.

"Not me, either." Sneaky said as well.

More laughter came from behind them. It was awfully familiar. Two very distinct laughs, sounding rough and rather high pitched.

Sneaky let out a gasp. "Thieves..."

All three men drew their swords, attempting to locate the source of the laughter. It only got louder without any sign of it's makers. It didn't help that it was very annoying to listen to after a while.

"Bah! Come out already, lâche!" Mouse growled, growing impatient.

Before he knew it, Mouse felt himself being picked up and then quickly back down. His face against the forest floor as hands attempt to find any valuables on him.

"Hey!" Sneaky snapped, shoving the hands away from Mouse.

Flippy was too focused on his friends to noticed another figure had been nearby. The figure suddenly latched onto the horse's side, startling it. The horse stood up on his hind legs as it attempted to buck the figure off of it.

The seer rolled off, landing harshly on the ground. Meanwhile, Flippy held on for dear life, even as the figure got on.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Flippy huffed, trying to push off the figure behind him.

"Heh, wow. I was worried we were dealing with REAL knights! Good thing it's just a bunch of squires playing pretend." The figure laughed again, grabbing Flippy by the back of the neck. A dagger was held up against his throat.

"Now, you got any gold on you, royal ass?"

"I-I assure you! We don't have anything you would want. We were simply trying to go home!" Flippy croaked out.

"Bullshit! You royal types always got something on you." The figured snickered.

"Hey Shifty, why don't we just take the horse?" The other figure spoke up.

"LIFTY, what did I say about mentioning our names during heists?" The figure hissed back.

Shifty and Lifty. Two...kinda infamous thieves? They were certainly bad as in unkind, but they were also bad as in...bad. Whenever they were on the bounty list posted in the center of town, they were worth very little. They were more of an annoyance than an actual threat, so going after them was low hanging fruit.

"Oh, it's just you two. Of course." Mouse rolled his eyes at them.

"Just us two? You don't even care that I have a knife against your friend's throat?"

"Who said we were friends?"

Flippy shot a glare at Mouse.

"Look, we don't want any trouble, ok? If you let me and my friends go, we won't tell the king you tried to rob us."

"Would telling the king give us a higher bounty?" Lifty snickered.

"Hey yeah, you're right! How much extra gold do you think we can get for slitting his throat?" Shifty chuckled.

"Please leave if you both want to live! I saw this in a vision, and it will not be long before The Black Knight has your head!" The Seer spoke up once more.

The raccoon twins paused, turning their attention towards them.

"Whatcha doing out of your little cave, lass?" Shifty smirked.

"Wait, what did she say about The Black Knight?" Lifty looked between the two.

Shifty shook his head. "The Black Knight is only a myth. Everybody claims to be him, but nobody has ever actually seen him. Almost everybody that's taken a bounty has used his name."

"Oh, he is very real" The Seer stood up slowly "He's my closest friend."

"You're not friends with The Black Knight, and you aren't a real seer. Just admit you're some lonely peasant girl."

Shifty pressed the dagger against Flippy's throat, only a hair away from slitting it. All of a sudden, Flippy gripped Shifty's wrist. With what seemed to be the strength of 10 bulls, he yanked the hand away from him. He threw the thief off of the horse. Shifty crashed against the trunk of a tree with his back stabbed by a branch. Thankfully it wasn't far enough to had completely impale him, but it still hurt.

Mouse and Sneaky turned to look at Flippy.

Flippy swooped The Seer into his arm before setting them back down on the horse. Without making eye contact with the two other men, he raced the horse into a straight line.

"Wh- Hey! Wait for us, Flipsalot!" Mouse squeaked as he chased after the bear. Sneaky followed, leaving the two thieves behind.