A Journey through Kingdoms

CHAPTER 38- SLIGHT INCONVENIENCE

Derrick's eyes slowly flutter open as he takes in the light bit by bit before finally being awake and seeing Tetsuga stomping out the fire they made as the day finally came around. "Hey kid, get Cherry up so we can go," Tetsuga tells them as they look to their side to see Cherry sleeping soundly still. "Hey Cherry, time to wake up." they stir them as their eyes slowly open like theirs did. "Hmmm... is it morning already?" Cherry questioned as she rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, now get up and let's get going. we're losing a lot of daylight just idling here," Tetsuga says harshly as he takes a swig from his flask.

once they took care of their temporary camp, they proceeded to head out as they traversed the marsh once again. as they walked the dirt path that was carved through. they spot something off in the distance. a carriage of some sort heading faster than usual towards them. "That couldn't be a problem, right?" Tetsuga was ready to just let it pass, but Pyxis noticed something that they hadn't yet. "Bandits!" they shout as the carriage is revealed to be commandeered by a bunch of bandits, with the hostages being the owner and the previous driver of the carriage. "Typical. just our luck, huh?" he comments as he pockets the flask. he lets everyone step to the side as the speeding vehicle runs past them.

once it was far behind them, Tetsuga used his magic to latch onto the runaway carriage and keep it in place as he used his strength to pull back on it. "The carriage isn't moving!?" one of the bandits says as they watch the horse struggle to even make any headway as, with a head stride, it dug itself deeper into the dirt. "It's a good time for you guys to do something!" Tetsuga tells them, which got them to make their way towards where the carriage is. the driving bandit stopped the horses since it wouldn't be doing them any good at the moment and had the rest get out of the carriage itself and confront the group. they all met eyes and paused for one of them to make the first move. it went on for a bit, which gave Tetsuga enough time to detach his magic from the carriage and take a breather.

"Get 'em!" They shout as they rush the group. the first one to make contact was Pyxis, who got his knife out and started to fight the bandit as they exchanged blow after blow. and even fight, to be sure. while he was doing that, Derrick and Cherry were dealing with the other two bandits as they used the carriage to their advantage, which caused them to go into a chase as they went around the carriage multiple times. juking them each time they get near. "How are we going to deal with this, Derrick!?" Cherry asks the boy as they continue to run around the carriage. suddenly, they get cut off by a bandit as they appear on their way to block their escape route.

"Uh oh," Derrick adds as he glances back and sees another bandit blocking their backup plan as they menacingly approach them. "Duck!" Cherry thinks quickly. She pulls Derrick down in time as the axe the bandit was using swings right over their heads before embedding itself into the side of the carriage. shaking the vehicle slightly. they struggled to get it out as it was embedded deep into it, but the bandit from behind had also launched his own strike, which accidentally hit the previous bandit right in the face. hitting their head on the side of the carriage before falling face first, knocked out. "Oh sh*t!" the bandit curses, as he didn't really mean to do that. "Are you okay, Mark?" they ask, only to get no response back. Seeing there was no way they were going to answer them, he looks at the two other people there and glares at them. "You little." They were going to strike them, but luckily Tetsuga came to the rescue, and Font kicked them away into a tree. knocking them out as well. "Easy, you two, okay?" they ask as they try to make sure the two don't get hurt much.

"We're okay, Mr. . Tetsuga. thanks for the assist." Derrick thanked him for his effort, but Cherry was more indifferent to the matter as she crossed her arms. "Pssh, we could've handled that ourselves," which was true to an extent. but if they did, it was going to require a lot more effort than just front-kicking the bandit away. "Keep dreaming, kid. c'mon, let's go help out Pyxis," they say as they take a swig before making their way around the carriage to help out Pyxis. but they seemed to have the situation under control as they were met with the guy giving the bandit some kind of combo attack as they first stab them in the shoulder, dropping their weapon before stabbing them right on the inner thigh, making them drop to one knee before finishing it off with a great big slash to their face, dropping them instantly as they fall down to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh, I guess we didn't need to help," he comments after seeing the sigh along with everyone else. the adrenaline in Pyxis wears off as he hovers right over the bleeding body of the bandit. "Nice work, Pyxis. I didn't know you could fight like that," Tetsuga complements as he gives him a friendly pat on the back. "Oh, it's no biggie. I deal with crooks like them from time to time," he tells him as he wipes some sweat off his brow. Derrick couldn't help but feel like he's being outclassed by him. Sure, his relationship with Tetsuga was new, but considering what he and he had been through, he felt as though they were closer. but this Pyxis fellow was climbing up the ranks fairly quickly. and he didn't feel all that well about it.

"Yo, Derrick, are you doing okay there?" Cherry asked as he shook him out of his daze. "Oh, yeah, I am. I just had something to think about," he assures her as he flashes her his usual smile. "Okay, well, we should go check the carriage. there might be hostages inside," Cherry says as they both go over to the carriage to open it. They then find a noble and their daughter tied up along with the driver. "Don't worry, you three; the bandit problem has been dealt with." Derrick fills them in as he and Cherry go to untie them. "Thank you for saving us. I hope it wasn't much of a problem." The noble was quick to thank them as soon as his mouth was freed from a cloth gag. "Me and my father were on our way home, but the carriage was suddenly taken over by some bandits." the daughter explained their side of the story to them.

"Well, your good now. there's no bandits to worry about now!" Cherry assures them as she puts her kindness dial up to eleven to ensure that they knew the area was safe. they eventually make their way outside and see Tetsuga and Pyxis picking up the unconscious body of a bandit and tossing it to the side of the road. "Hey, just finishing up out end here," Pyxis tells them with a smile, which was a little uncanny as a bit of blood splatter was still on his face while they threw the body. but despite that, it did little to unnerve the noble and their daughter.

"Thank you for saving us; how could we ever repay you?" the doble bows to show his respect for everyone. no one really expected any financial compensation for this, except for Tetsuga, who was going to ask them to pay them for their efforts, but Pyxis was quick to cut him off before he could, as he stepped in front of him. "I know, how about you give us a ride to Xaeoson Kingdom?" Pyxis suggests. which Tetsuga was going to protest but gets quickly shut up with a hand to their face. covering their mouth from speaking. The nobles and their daughters certainly had no qualms about it; there was definitely space to fit all of them.

"Well, if that's what you want, then climb on aboard. we were going to head back there anyway, so you're welcome to join us," the noble says as he gestures for them to get on board the carriage as the driver takes his seat up on the front. controlling the horses again. the three made their way inside and realized that the inside of the carriage was too cramped to fit one more. this left Derrick out of everyone with nowhere to sit. "How about you sit up front, next to the driver?" the daughter suggests, which was definitely okay since the front of the carriage was made to seat two people and one was sitting there at the moment. "Uh, sure. I guess I can just sit there," Derrick says as he makes his way there. Although he wanted to sit with everyone inside, there was no helping it. and it was for today, so he could suck it up for now. once he was seated, the driver whipped the horse line down and had the carriage moving again.

With their ride acquired, they were now on their way to the kingdom.