Motley (#Wattys2016)

21: James Hook

Nori jerked her head up in surprise. The tip of a sword poked through the stomach of the Ivory Prince, dripping with blood. The sword was withdrawn and the Ivory Prince collapsed, clutching his abdomen and howling with rage and pain.

Kei stood over him holding the sword. He grabbed Nori's hand and hoisted her up. Out of his belt, he withdrew another sword and handed it to her. "You feel up to fighting?"

"You came back!" Nori said, breathless with happiness.

"Of course I came back, kokoro," Kei said smilingly. "You didn't think I'd let him kill you, did you?"

"Well, kind of," said Nori. "Sorry."

There was a yell of 'get them!' Kei and Nori whirled around to come face-to-face with the other court members, who also had swords drawn.

"Kei, we can't fight all of them at once," Nori said urgently.

"I agree." With a sweep of his hand, Kei conjured wind and blew all the court members away. They fell against the wall in a heap.

Nori was impressed with his wind magic. "Great, let's get out of here and find my crew!" Nori exclaimed.

"You don't know where your crew are," Kei said.

"We'll find them eventually!" Nori told him confidently. She ran out one large door down the hall, Kei following her with difficulty at matching her pace. The castle really was large, larger than Nori had planned. She and Kei ran through one stone hallway to another, checking every single door they passed. It was a miracle there were no soldiers. Nori finally decided to go downstairs to check the basement, when she ran into somebody running at equal speed. They bounced off each other and fell in a heap, groaning with pain.

"Watch where you're going," a familiar voice spat.

"I could say the same, smartass! Get out of our way!" Nori told him angrily.

They both sat up and looked at each other, expressions changing instantly. Ryota's face paled with terror and Nori's was instantly furious. "You!" she roared, grabbing her sword and thrusting it at his throat. The tip of the blade was poking into his skin, when somebody grabbed her by the middle and hoisted her away. Masa!

"Nori, what are you doing?" Masa said in bewilderment.

"Wha- why are you taking his side? And how did you get out?"

Reiko and Michi came running up the stairs next. "Ryota found us," Reiko said. "He got us out. I'm glad Kei found you too!"

"So you've been lying to them too?" Nori asked Ryota angrily, attempting to push Masa away.

"You think I'd tell them before I helped them escape? They probably wouldn't go with me!" Ryota yelled.

"Gee, I wonder why?" Nori said sarcastically. "Why wouldn't they trust you after you betrayed your own crew?" Ryota tried desperately to shush her making frantic gestures with his hands.

"What are you talking about, Nori?" Michi asked her. "Look, I hardly know Ryota, but he is part of your crew and he helped all of us escape!"

"He's the one who told the Rose Marquis where we were!" Nori shouted. "And he was also the one to turn me over to the Ivory Prince!"

"Are you serious?" Reiko said. "So it was you! You're gonna pay!"

"Okay, okay, so I did. But you know, I did rescue most of you from jail," Ryota told them slyly.

"I could have done that," Nori said bluntly.

Ryota was running out of options. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? After I let the Ivory Prince capture you, I felt guilty and I decided to follow him to the palace. I was going to get Reiko and Masa out, but then they said we needed the princess Mayumi freed too-"