Believe(A Mirror Mirror AU)(Possibly slow updates)

Chapter 2: Warrior in the woods

Kazuto POV
"Sire you promised me that we wouldn't be ditching the royal convoy until after we were in the city." Whined Eugeo my traveling companion. I rolled my eyes and waved a hand dismissively.
"Oh come on Eugeo, you know just as well as I that Sachi and the rest of the Order of the Moonlit Black Cat were more than happy to see us off. Besides it's not like anyone is going to see two lone swordsmen and think that there's anything up with them." I said nonchalantly.
"I know but you have to have heard about the reports coming out of this kingdom, all we ever hear about any more are bandits and the..... the dark knight...." He whispered as a tremble ran through him. I sighed and clapped a hand on his shoulder, leaning over on my horse.
"Those are just rumors, besides the dark knight is just a fairytale, it's nothing to be afraid of-" Just as I said that I noticed a shadow moving in the trees around us. Shit.... Me and my big mouth... I thought in annoyance as I noticed five others.
"Hey Eugeo, remember that thing you said about bandits?" I asked in a hushed voice. Eugeo nodded mutely, no doubt noticing the change in my demeanor.
"Now I am officially giving you an order as the Crown Prince of Aincrad. Under absolutely no circumstances are you to say I told you so." I growled shooting him a serious look as I drew my swords and turned my attention back to the figures flitting through the forest. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a slight gleam turned just in time to slice through an oncoming arrow.
"Shit! Hurry up and surround them!" A muffled but slightly feminine voice called out from the trees. I looked at Eugeo and nodded as the two of us took off on our horses in opposite directions. Can't surround us if we're in separate places! I thought triumphantly. Unfortunately my triumph was short lived as I was knocked down onto my back when my horse suddenly reared up and began to act disoriented. I cursed under my breath and got to my feet just in time to block a strike from a golden sword. I thought this kingdom was going broke, how the hell does anyone have something that ostentatious?! I thought as I parried blow after blow.

"I gotta admit, it takes a lot to get me on the defensive, I commend you on your swordsmanship." I panted as a blocked a particularly heavy stroke from my opponent's sword, staring into their ghoulish face.  I unfortunately just when I was finally able to make up ground I found myself dodging a dagger as it came at me from my right side. I glanced over at my new assailant and saw that they, like my opponent, had a monstrous appearance but was much smaller and dressed in yellow armor as opposed to the ostentatious gold of their ally. I also noticed that they had a small dragon with them. Must be some kind of monster beast tamers or something...... I thought briefly before I lost my footing and ended up on my back next to Eugeo.

"You're the best knight in the kingdom how the hell did you get caught?!" I asked him earning a glare.
"Well I'm sorry that I'm not as good at deflecting daggers as you are!" He yelled back gesturing to a shallow cut on his sword arm. I was prepared to make another retort when the person in the golden armor walked up to us and cleared their throat. I turned back to them and realized with a start that what I had thought was a monstrous face in the heat of battle was actually a helmet crafted to look like one.
"I got their saddle bags-oof!" Yelled the smaller, dagger throwing bandit as they-well apparently she I realized as her helmet fell off. I gaped at the young girl who was being helped up by one of the other bandits, this one in red armor that and carrying a mace. Is this country so destitute that even someone around Sugu's age has to rob others to support themselves? I thought bitterly, the young girl's innocent face reminding me of my younger sister.
"You can take whatever you want, I'd rather say that we were robbed than allow a little girl to starve." I said standing, feeling a lump of white hot anger settle into my chest as I thought of the ineptitude and neglect that the royal family must be showing in order for this to happen. The young dagger thrower jumped and yelled, "They saw my face! Pina bubble breath!" Eugeo and I shared a concerned look before the small dragon flew down in front of the us and blew a stream of bubbles into our faces.
"Shit-! What-?!" I spluttered before stumbling off away from them, Eugeo close behind me.
We ran what felt like a good league away but it was hard to tell as I had begun to feel lightheaded and dizzy. I staggered into trees, my vision fading in and out of black. We stumbled into a clearing before suddenly the world shifted around us and we found ourselves hanging upside down from our ankles. We hung there in a stupefied silence with our backs to each other for a while before our heads started to clear. I groaned and pressed the heel of my palm to my forehead.
"Shit......" I groaned my head pounding.
"That damned dragon must have had some kind of disorienting magic or something. My head hasn't hurt this much since the first time we tried wine..." Eugeo moaned and I swore in response.
"Please don't remind me, the last thing I want right now is to remember how we got in trouble with Father for stealing from the wine cellar..." I mumbled as I tried to see what we were hanging from. We each had a foot caught in a snare that was attached to a nearby tree. I looked below us and saw our swords lying in the snow. Even when I'm drugged and confused I'm still a swordsman I thought with a sardonic smile.
"Hey Eugeo, I'm going to try to reach one of my swords, try to see if you can undo the knot in the meantime okay?" I asked, out of the corner of my eyes I saw him nod and heard him trying to force his way up the rope to our ankles. I stretched out my hand as far as I could and swiped at the air just above the sword's hilt. I'd almost grabbed it when a blow from behind knocked the wind out of me and left me seeing spots for a moment. I wheezed as I realized that Eugeo had lost his grip on the rope and had come crashing down into my back. I stared down at my swords as we swung back and forth directly over them. I tried reaching down for them again but between the renewed pounding at the back of my skull where Eugeo and my heads collided and the constant swaying of the rope they remained lying in the snow, taunting me as they laid just out of reach.
"I picked the worst traveling companion." I muttered bitterly as I started to feel dizzy again, unsure if it was from the swaying or from the blood rushing to my head.
"Well I'm sorry that your guard and the best knight in the kingdom just happened to be your half-brother." Eugeo muttered darkly. I sighed and stared back down at my swords, glinting black and gold in the snow.
"Fathers going to kill us, isn't he?" Eugeo asked after a moment of silence.
"Not if he never knows...." I muttered and we shared an awkward nod from the corners of our eyes. Just then we heard the crunching of snow and our eyes flew to our swords and then to the shadows of the trees where the sound had originated from. Could it be the bandits coming to finish us off? Or maybe it's just a wild animal that we've saved by taking up the snare... I thought hopefully but as we listened to the footsteps growing closer and saw the humanoid shape moving in the trees I cast that hope aside.