Princess Of Thieves

Five Miles

“Okay, so here’s the plan,” Ariana turned around to walk backwards as they trekked across the open field. The five of them - Jaxon, Ariana, Fred, Silas, and Gardin - each had a large backpack full of supplies and clothes on their back as they hiked towards the woods. 

They had dressed in plain comfortable clothing because they had no idea how long it was going to take to arrive at the rebel encampment - much less where they were even going.

“They gave us a jump off point to meet up at,” she continued, she glared at Silas and Fred who’d had their heads bent together in a whispered conversation for the past few of minutes before glancing behind her and adjusting her gait when she slid a bit on the long wet grass. 

The thick heavy fog laying low in the air told the story of heavy rains the night before that the flooded and muddy ground only attested to. 

Jaxon adjusted his cloak’s hood as they walked into the forest, fat drops of water were still dripping from the skies irregularly pulling even more tiny pools from the leaves down onto their heads. He wrinkled his nose as his foot sank into a muddy and flooded gopher hole and he was immensely glad for the tall thick leather hiking boots Silas had thrown at his head that morning. They might look a bit ridiculous with their height but if he didn’t have to hike in wet socks for who knew how long then Jaxon was content with looking a little odd.

“How long are we going to be walking for?” Jaxon asked as he strategically sidestepped yet another gopher hole.

“Not too long,” Ariana said vaugely, turning back around after she nearly ran into a tree for the fifth time.

“Ari, how long are we hiking for?” Fred asked, looking at his sister warily.

She pursed her lips. “About an hour,” she told him cautiously, eliciting groans from the group. She rolled her eyes, the sunlight catching the grey and pulling on the blue hues of them before descending into shadows once more.

“That’s got be nearly five miles!” Fred exclaimed throwing his hands out in exaggerated protest then almost immediately pulling them back in before he smacked a tree.

The five of them were having a hard time adjusting to all of the obstacles in their way. Used to the open roads of the city and the courtesy that comes with being the prince and his royal guard they were struggling to keep form with all of the trees.

Usually Fred and Aria took the lead, the two of them walking in front of Jaxon with Gardin and Silas flanking him in the back. With all of the trees, bushes, puddles, and roots in their way they kept having to take detours and walk a little faster or a little slower. Eventually they all just gave up and started walking in a line, Jaxon was still in the middle at Gardin’s insistence though.

After an hour and a half of mud-filled trekking they had finally reached their destination, a giant oak tree. It’s thick full canopy seemed to be continuously swaying with an unseen breeze high in the air. There were many other villagers and townsfolk gathered around the base of the tree, many if not all of them with large rucksacks, even small wagons and carts carrying their possessions and food.

Jaxon was admiring the huge tree, having grown up in the city and near the ocean he’d never seen anything like it. All of the hunting trips that had been permitted had been in the small sparsely inhabbited forest right outside of the city limits.

Since he was focused on the tree and its thick branches so intently he was one of the first to notice when a thich piece of rope fell from somewhere in it. It stopped and dangled about a foot up off the ground. Gardin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Jaxon pointed it out to him. 

Slowly more and more people took notice of the rope, when there was a lull in the quiet murmings of the gathered crowd a young woman stepped up to the base of the tree and seemed to slip her foot in a small loop at the bottom of the rope that Jaxon hadn’t been able to see before. After a second, when all eyes were on her, she slowly began to rise another foot into the air. Jaxon’s eyes widened as he realized it was the same woman from earlier, Zelia.

“Hello everyone,” her voice rang out across the small clearing, effectively quieting the rest of the chatter going on. “My name is Zelia, I am the Willow in charge of this recruitment. 

“I would like to take this time to tell you all that once you set foot in our camp you can not turn back. We are here to right the injustices done to us, free our property and possessions, and protect our friends, family, and community. So I encourage you to join our fight for freedom.

“But, I can not tell you how long it will be before you can visit home, much less return for good. I can only warn you now that it will be long. If you wish to turn back you must forget this place and these faces, but please, not this cause. While you may choose not to join the fight on our front we will continue fighting for you.

“I would also like to warn any of you that are here to betray us. Wether it be by stealing from our stores or revealing our locations and plans to the guards it is a threat to our safety and to our liberties, which means it will not end well for you. The captain has little patience and no tolerance for those who seek to do us harm. Captain Ellis will not hesitate to bring forth justice in any form and already has many prevention measures in place should you want to breach our trust.”

Jaxon tried not to tense up at the eerie warnings given, but he froze and almost gave in to the internal panic when Zelia’s gaze seemed to linger a little too long on their group at the end. He felt a shiver work it’s way up his spine when she looked away.

“You are to find a guide, they know these woods far better than you so until you are proven trustworthy they are the only way you are getting in or out. It’s very easy to wander off and to get lost so stay close to them. The guides are each marked by a red scarf that they carry,” at this multiple people throughout the crowd stuck their hands up displaying the muted red fabric that they clutched. “More information, rules, procedures, and protocols will be given out and explained once we reach camp.”

Zelia hopped down from her rope perch effortlessly and grabbed her things before taking up a spot in the loose semi-circle around the travelers that the guides had migrated to.

Ariana hiked her bag higher up on her shoulder before taking a fortifying breath. “We should find a guide,” she said taking the lead as we all nodded our heads mutely.

Fred started walking toward the groups milling about when he suddenly tumbled down in a heap. 

Ariana swore, “Shit.”