the battle has begun

Chapter 4: Prepared

3rd Person P.O.V.

You and the other guards decided to take a break. Still shaken up, Dante was willing to stay awake and guard the village. The rest of the group thanked him. Although Dante is a good guard, you thought about it and decided that it was a good idea to keep an eye open. You walked towards the big tree, with the rest of the gang beside you. You being you, started becoming uncomfortable, how the five of you were in a line walking in unison, so you took the lead. Eventually, the five of you made it. You got into a bed and was out cold.

[Your Name]'s P.O.V.

I was asleep when I felt something poke me. I stirred around and groaned. After a few seconds of my roll, there was another poke. I had enough, and sighed. I sat up, only to meet a hand covering my mouth. My eyes widened and I was about to yell when a soft voice hushed me.

"Shhh... You don't want to wake them." I turned my gaze toward the voice. It was only Jaquelynn. I looked at the person who held the hand over my mouth and it was Ash.

"C'mon." She stood up and slowly made her way to the ladder. Ash removed his hand from my mouth and I stared at him with confusion.

"Just trust us." He whispered. I hesitated, but soon enough I got up. I trailed behind the two assassins, still wondering where they were taking me. We ended up going to the guard tower. (Not the old one. The one in the walls of the village.) We climbed the ladder all the way up. When we were settled, I started to speak.

"Now what was the point in this." I crossed my arms as I leaned against the wall, with a small vein popping out of the side of my head.

"What's the plan?" Jaquelynn sat at the edge of the window with her feet dangling.

"Plan?"

"Yeah for the battle."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but I clearly knew what she was talking about. She sighed.

"I know you know what I'm talking about," She turned around to face me, "a plan to save this Aphmau girl." I stayed silent. I didn't know what to do. I was never in this situation. I usually went with the flow.

"I'm suspecting you don't have a plan." She interrupted my thoughts. I slightly shook my head. She sighed, "I knew this would happen. Very well, I had made a plan early on." She took out a small book for her to tell me her demonstration.

"Wait," I stopped her before she could even begin to start explaining, "if this is helping me then I don't need to know." She looked at me.

"This is not 'helping you', this is kinda like a quest to save Aphmau. Think of it like a request. They give you the facts and information and then you go do it." I hesitated and sighed.

"Very well... Carry on."

She started her long explanation of the whole plan. By the time she was done, people were already up and walking everywhere. Then I remembered something. Weren't there three of them?

"Hey... Uh... Where's your other little friend?" 

"Out and distracting Aaron." She said it so casually, like it wasn't a problem.

"What?"

"How else would we be able to sneak you out of the tree house if Aaron was standing there, thinking we were assassins trying to kill you."

 "Won't... Uh... What's his name again?"

"Jace."

"Won't Jace get caught and then maybe even beat up? I mean Aaron is a good hider and a finder."

"Don't worry, Jace is the man for this." She assured me. 

"O-kay, well I'm off."

"Alright. See you around."

I walked out of the tower and started to roam the village. It was a lot more peaceful now that the imposter Aphmau wasn't here. I started to walk around when I saw a little light blue haired girl. It was the same girl that had been holding her mother's hand when I was being dragged away.

She was picking apples from a small tree that grew outside of a small house. I stopped in my tracks and stared at her. There was a small basket with a few apples in it sitting on the ground. She was jumping up and down, trying to grab an apple which was a bit to high for her. I didn't want to make new friends, but I knew it was the right think to do. So, I went up to her and plucked the red apple from the tree. I handed it to her and she blinked her eyes.

"Mommy~Chan says that Nekoette~Tan shouldn't be talking to you." She said. I blinked. She talks in third person? Oh well.

"Is that so?" She nodded.

"But Nekoette~Tan doesn't know why. Ms. Stranger looks pretty and she helped Nekoette~Tan get the apple." I blinked at her again. I forgot that Ivy tore my hood off.

"Well... Uh... Thanks... I think you should go home to your... Uh... Mommy..." She looked a bit confused but nodded her head anyway. I sighed and turned around only to meet a smirking Aaron.

"Showing your soft side, eh?" I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

"Whatever. I'm going." As I was walking away from the masked idiot, I remembered the plan Jaquelynn told me. We don't have much longer before we have to start the "quest". I have to gather everyone and tell them about it. I hope it works. I hope we're prepared