Cinder-knight (bxb) ||completed

26th rule| and

"There's also another one right here."

Eric nodded at the wizard, ignoring how his stomach kept on letting out blatant noises of discomfort. The knight, mage and the prince were sitting in the cavern while a map lay in the middle of them. Pase had been showing several places where witches appear and marking them using a piece of coal, now there were about fifty marks in the city and forest combined.

"But.. where are we going first?" the prince asked, getting a hum from Eric, who then placed the pad of his finger over a mark that rested few inches away from their location, meaning it was miles afar.

"From my experience, the evil witches who kidnap princesses always hide in an abandoned castle, so I'm pretty certain this is the place," he blurted out, making Pase let out a snigger.

"That's ironically stereotypical."

"Your whole existence is ironically stereotypical."

"Makes sense."

The ginger rolled his eyes as his belly grumbled again, but the prince who had been staring at the map suddenly spoke up, looking at the knight who instantly fluttered his eyes back to him.

"How about we start from the nearest one, like this inn over here?" Henry pointed at a mark in the city, specifically said, a small sign of a crest which indicated that there was a pub in the area. The knight gave him a look, internally wondering if the prince was trying to use this chance to get drunk or something.

"Look, I know what you're thinking love, but that's not the reason," Charming sighed, "We should be starting our search from the nearest place there is, don't you think so? That's the only parlance I know."

"He does have a point there," Pase interrupted, and Eric, knowing that there was no way for him to get those two to agree with him on this, decided to listen to their words, "Plus, there are so many pubs in the city where witches come together, if one doesn't work we can always check the other. But if we go to the castle first- which might I add, is ten times further than the rest, it could end up being a waste of time."

The knight nodded for the umpteenth time, feeling the prince shift beside him and once he turned to the side to see what's going on, Henry grabbed him by the back of his neck and forced his head to rest over his shoulder. Eric couldn't help but let his face be overtaken by fifty shades of red, as he muttered out a tiny, 'Thank you, I guess.'

Prince Charming smiled, tugging a strand of red hair behind his knight's ear, "Anything for you, my love."

"Okay you two, stop being gross so we can finally go hunt witches," Pase groused and stood up, dusting his cloak before pulling the curtains up. He walked out of the cave, leaving the prince and the knight behind.

Eric, who didn't want to be alone with Henry- (mind you, Eric was definitely not in the mood to have a seizure because the prince kept on acting too fucking cute in his opinion) also got up and scuttled behind the magician without even bothering to say anything to his prince. His chest surged with unwanted butterflies while his ears turned red.

Eric knew he shouldn't be blushing at things Prince Charming did while being spelled, yet his body was acting on its own, tensing up and charring like a piece of wood in a hearth. Being a victim of a fusillade of love, the knight was aware of the heartbreak that was about to come at him if he were to fall for the prince's tricks.

But that didn't mean he would be strong enough to resist.

As a warm volley of sun rays cascaded down upon the knight's face, he gaped at Pase's back, who on the other hand, was too busy shuffling around a shrub near the horses. "Pase?" he mumbled and lumbered towards the wizard, being careful in his steps as he avoided the large pot of soup on the clutter of cinders.

The mare and the gelding both let out neighs when they saw the knight, and that somehow made the mage's shoulders go stiff as he quickly looked behind to see Eric staring at him with an eyebrow quirked. Pase pushed the thing he had in his hands- something that seemed similar to a rug bag, inside the bush again and stood up like nothing had happened.

For some reason, the sight of that bag or whatever it is, gave the ginger a bit of nostalgia. Had he seen it before? Maybe, because he remembered seeing something similar in the mage's hold when they first met him.

"Uhm.. Hey, Eric," the mage chuckled while the knight's gaze lasted over the shrub for a few more seconds before their eyes connected. Eric was looking at Pase in suspicion, but it was quick to die down as the prince too came out of the cave, a small blush adorning his cheeks.

"I wish we could start our journey right now, but you see, my clothes are a little.. mucky." Henry whispered, making the two others' eyes fall down to his shirt, jacket and pants which were stained with mud, soup and some other things Eric failed to decipher. Honestly, the knight's state wasn't any better. Not only was his attire unkempt and crummy, but his hair was also starting to appear as a toupee vomited by a cat.

Although Eric didn't like to call his own head a hairball, by then, that was exactly how it looked. Well, living in the wild with no combs, friends (who would take turns to wash clothes with you) or dream jacuzzis definitely had its perks. And the result was a nasty odor plus some major itchiness, which made the knight want nothing but to go back home- to the castle.

"That's no big deal," Pase cut his thoughts off, "Obviously, I can use magic to make you clothes. But the sad part is that it's going to disappear in a span of four hours and after that, you'll be buck-naked."

Eric hummed, looking at the boulder on which he had eaten breakfast. Though there were silverware and a pink apron on it few minutes before, now there was nothing at all. Eric's eyes went back to the fireplace and he was grossed out to see green fluid flowing over the ground like lava, making him realise that the soup pot had also disappeared.

Oh. So Pase had used magic to create them?

Interesting.

"You know what, I'm up for it. Let's go hunt witches."