The RHPK

Chapter 7- Nurse Pauline

Chapter 7- Nurse Pauline

The Pink Knight strutted across the dirt path and directly through the castle gate. She had on her new armor, her sword in its sheath on her back. King Duke simply instructed her to visit a woman by the name of Pauline who stayed in a shack in the corner of the wall.

The Pink Knight pulled out her sword and walked out, her back facing the king. She never cared for him. He was selfish and destructive, sending out lines of soldiers he didn't care about and peasants he didn't know about into battle to get slaughtered.

The RHPK shuddered and tapped on Pauline's shack with her knuckle. A woman with long blond hair that hung to her waist stepped out and smiled. "I'm Nurse Pauline," Pauline introduced, putting her arm out. The Pink Knight stared at her hand for a few moments before shaking it.

"I'm-"

"I know, I was alerted by King Duke that you'd be dropping by. I didn't realize you'd be so small! Come in," Nurse Pauline said sweetly, gesturing towards the open door. The Pink Knight hesitantly walked inside and and sat on a wooden chair. Nurse Pauline sat across from her.

"Why did he send me here?" the Pink Knight asked.

"He said simply that you should be given a pet."

"Pet?"

"This." Nurse Pauline reached over and lifted a small dog with a fluffy tail. The Pink Knight glared at it suspiciously. "His name is Manar, and he increases your magical strength by using certain spells he mastered in!"

"It's a dog," the RHPK said.

"Yes, he's still very useful."

"I don't need that."

She smiled softly and set the dog down. She stood up and left the room. The Pink Knight stared down at Manar, watching it wag its tail and loll its tongue. Nurse Pauline returned holding a cat with eyes the color of emeralds and fur as dark as the night. It had one white splotch of fur surrounding its eye, but nothing else.

"This is Swif. She increases your speed and reaction time. Lovely fur, don't you agree?" the nurse said sweetly, stroking Swif's fur gingerly. the Pink Knight nodded slowly, staring in a mesmerized trance from Swif's emerald eyes. The cat meowed and pawed at the Pink Knight's nose.

"How much pic?" the RHPK asked quietly.

"None. She's yours." Nurse Pauline placed Swif into the Pink Knight's awaiting arms. Her fur was silky and glossy, and her eyes glistened in the sunlight that filtered through a dull window.

"Thank you." the Pink Knight put Swif on the ground and left the shack, hearing her new cat's soft paw's padding on the dusty road by her side. Villagers stared at her in awe, admiring her odd choice of armor and her sword that clung to her back, secured by two straps of leather.

She pulled her sword out of its sheath and walked directly out of the kingdom. She came across a woman who held a roll of barley and a bucket of water.

"You're not a soldier," the woman commented, scanning the Pink Knight with her eyes.

"I am not," the RHPK replied and started to walk ahead of her.

"You're not a farmer either! You can't leave the village without being a soldier or a farmer!" the woman yelled.

"Merchants can leave too." She looked the woman in the eye, Swif pawing at her ankles.

"So you're a merchant?"

"Travelers can too."

"So you're a traveler?"

"I am none. I'm RHPK." The Pink Knight whipped around and ran. She ran much faster thanks to Swif, leaping over logs, dodging bushes, avoiding brush. Her boots slapped the mud on the ground, splattering it onto her armor.

* * *

Strength belongs to the one with the most will. No one is simply strong without trying. The Pink Knight, who bore the largest sword and the strangest armor, resides in strength. Without the fear of death, people tend to be reckless. She, however, controls her fears. She is powerful in that sense, despite being the youngest soldier.

But her morals tug her to guilt towards her enemies. Sadness whenever she slices open a Hood's chest.

"Swif, duck," she hissed, hearing a shaking in the bushes.

The cat turned and jumped up a tree, sinking her claws into the bark. The Pink Knight pulled her sword out of its sheath and skidded to a halt in the middle of a clearing.

"Where'd you get that costume?" a deep, ominous voice said from within the trees. The RHPK stepped back slightly and narrowed her eyes.

"Come out and fight me," she growled, spreading her legs and putting her sword into position.

"Hmm, you're very committed to the act. Drop it, Sugarplum, you'll never beat us."

Fingers snapped, the the bushes were demolished by the trampling weight of a whole army of Forest Bears. They were humans that wore the skins of polar bears over their backs with bear claws implanted into their hands.

The magic they practiced was Cloud Magic, a very rare illegal magic outlawed due to its notorious background traced to the Forest Bears.

"Bastards," she hissed.

"Now, if you want to back off, we'll gladly let you go. I don't suggest struggling against us," the leader said. He held a banner that had painted claw marks on it.

"Get away."

"Alright then, if that's what you want."

He lifted his clawed hand and waited. The army drew out their swords, bows, axes, spears, claws, and magic sparking hands.

"NOW!!" the leader yelled, bringing down his hand.

Arrows flew through the air, all aimed at the Pink Knight. She jumped up, deflecting the ones that were still poised to hit her mid-air. She landed and charged at the army.

"FOG!!" the leader yelled, thrusting his opened palm at the small soldier.

Fog swarmed the air, clouding the vision of the army and the Pink Knight.

"BEARS: IMMUNITY!!"

The Forest Bears could now see through the fog, leaving an angry Pink Knight blinded by the haze.

Someone's claws swung at her, yet she ducked. Swif was sitting in the trees meowing evilly as the Pink Knight's reaction time was increased heavily by magic the cat provided.

"Where is Princess Janine?!" the RHPK roared, slicing through a Forest Bear's neck.

"We don't have her!" the leader yelled, pointing towards her. "CLOUD: SNAKE!!"

Slithering tendrils of mist started to slide around the eleven-year-old, blocking her sword and tying up her legs.

"Damn you! Where is she?!" the RHPK screamed, hacking through the cloud ropes around her knees and ankles, swinging her sword towards two Forest Bears.

"She's with the Lava Mites!"

Lava Mites. They reside in the Volcano Mountain Range. I can get there, the Pink Knight thought as she sliced off a Forest Bear's head.

"But how are you going to save all five?" the leader laughed maniacally.

What?! In her moment of disbelief, claws tore through her leg.

"FIVE?!" she screamed in a mixture of fury and pain. She swung her sword in a mad rage, cutting through the thicket of Forest Bears.

"Janine, Carla, Lilac, Vista, and Terra! How are you gonna save them?!"

The princesses from... all the kingdoms.