Fantasizing a war - A Sanders Sides Trilogy

Day 20.5

"Now stay on your guard," Virgil warned as he flipped up the hood of his jacket, "Our villages aren't like yours; they're crime-ridden, full of scum and dirty. Not at all pleasant."

Patton swallowed nervously, grabbing Logan's' hand. The two exchanged glances and Logan tried an encouraging smile.

Roman just watched Virgil as the Dark Realm Prince handed him a large hoodie. It was black, with grey, scored sleeves.

Virgil shrugged. "It was my old one. I had packed two when I decided to bunk out of the castle."

"Why did you bunk out, if that's okay?" Roman asked, taking the hoodie - it smelt dark but safe, a certain aroma Roman never thought he'd like so much until he had met Virgil.

"Me and Dee got into a fight. Can't even remember what it was about." Virgil said, shrugging again. "But hey!" He grinned cockily. "Must've been a good thing if I managed to meet y'all!"

Roman laughed, pulling the hoodie on over his princely attire. It was rather small on him, the sleeves clinging half-way up his forearms. Cursing how tall he was, he rolled them up properly to reach his elbows instead.

Looking up, he saw Virgil getting Logan's' jacket off the advisor and removing Patton's' trademark cardigan.

"You wanna be as less noticeable as possible," Virgil was saying, "So I'm giving Patton your blazer and you'll have to make do in your shirt." He stepped back for a moment to admire his work. "Great! Now if we use my cloak to coat Cloud and paint her with some mud, we should be all good."

Roman grimaced as he stared longingly at his pristine pegasus. Her dazzling white coat was shattered as Patton followed Virgil's' instructions and slapped a handful of mud on her flank. Logan followed his boyfriends' example and the two started talking as Virgil rummaged through his bag for his cloak.

"Patton," Began Logan, "What do you want to do when we've sorted this out?"

Patton looked up thoughtfully. "Ooh, good question! Hmm... Probably see if I can open a chain of 'Cooking Cookies' across the Light Realm! It'd be sooo good to get more people helping the charity." Patton answered as he smeared some dark, inky mud along Cloud's' belly. "How about you, Lolo?"

"Probably... see if I could get my job back as a Royal Advisor - or just an Advisor. This 'stable boy' malarky isn't, figuratively, the tip of the iceberg in society." He replied, smiling up at Patton as he rubbed dirt into the pegasus's' pearly mane.

Patton grinned happily, before turning to Roman. "How about you, Ro?"

Roman smiled at Patton as he watched them destroy his beautiful Cloud. "Apologise to my dad about running off and, if they put the coronation back on, maybe start an allegiance with the Dark Realm."

"That's all pretty cool, kiddo! I bet, if anyone can reason with Deceit, it's you!" Patton cheered brightly.

Logan started to push mud along Cloud's' muzzle. "Yes, you do have rather reasonable debating skills. Even if they aren't... usual..."

"Yep!" Roman claimed proudly, popping the 'p'. "I make confusing and contradicting theatre references until they give up and let me have my way!"

Virgil snorted from where he knelt over his bag. "I just hiss at my opponents until they back off."

"...Does that... work?" Logan inquired, stopping his task momentarily to look at Virgil in curiosity.

"Hell yeah! It gets Dee out of my room when he has something to tell me."

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it, smothering Cloud's' neck in a foul-smelling substance he really hoped was mud and not the feces of some repulsive creature.

"Got my cloak!" Claimed Virgil, just as Patton and Logan finished. He threw it dramatically over Cloud's' wings. 

The pegasus was hardly recognizable, her glittering coat now dull and brown. Her clean smell had been replaced with stale mud and rotting leaves. Her wings, which were the only things that hadn't been touched with the mud, now gave her torso a deformed quality, one that appeared uncomfortable to even look at.

Roman inhaled. "You've ruined her..." He whimpered.

"Eh, suck it up, Princey! She'll be fine when we wash this stuff off her at my castle. Now let's brave the village. Patton, stick close to Logan; Roman, stick close to me; Logan, follow my footsteps exactly and don't stop for anything!" Virgil lectured, firmly. The other three nodded and he grinned. "Sweet. Let's go!"

And, grabbing Storm's' reigns and Roman's' wrist, he dragged them into a brisk walk, brushing through the foliage as Patton and Logan followed up behind them, Cloud trotting lazily behind them.

.:*:.

The village smelled like cold spices. It was harsh and brutal, yet not unpleasant. It wasn't nearly as busy as the villages in the Light Realm, yet people were getting shoved over and pushed around. Virgil walked ahead bossily, head held high, as Roman cowered behind the smaller man, hood thrown over his head. Storm copied his owner's' act - holding the skeletal wings threateningly and ruffling his neck feathers, the thestral was intimidatingly beautiful, causing many people to scuttle out of their way.

Logan drew himself up to his true height as he shielded Patton from the residents of this slum. He glared rudely about, though inwardly he was rather proud of the effect he created for a group of frumpy women, who all paled as he swept his cold gaze over them - they had escorted themselves out of the main street quickly. Cloud just trotted behind them absently.

A large man stepped in front of Virgil. "Who are you?" He sneered, spitting on the ground just before Virgil's' foot.

"Someone more important than you, no doubt." Virgil scoffed back. He smirked at the reaction of the large man, who seemed more offended than Roman would be. "Oh no, I didn't!"

"You got a lotta nerve, kid." Hissed the large man. "I could flay you alive and not lose a wink of sleep."

Virgil's' smirk grew as he stood there, confidently relaxed. "Good for you. How about you go and gloat about your psychopathic achievements somewhere else? Trust me, that pales in comparison to my tendencies."

The man bristled visibly, obviously annoyed about being shown up by a young man, half his height. "I'm giving you one chance to walk away from this, boy, before I beat the hell outta you and your boyfriend hiding behind you."

Virgil ignored the comment, although Roman's' face went red.

"One." Counted the man.

"One." Copied Virgil.

"Two!" Spat the large man, cracking his knuckles.

"Two!" Virgil answered, mockingly cracking his knuckles too.

"THREE!" Shouted the man swinging his fist back and then forward at break-neck speed, hurtling it at Virgil's' face.

"STORM!" Shouted Virgil.

The thestral leapt upon the man in an instant, a loud thumping noise echoing across the main street as hooves connected with ribs. The large man howled in pain as Storm stretched his wings to their full span.

Virgil bent over the man's' face, smiled, and spat in his eye. "Pleasure meeting you. Come along, guys!"

Roman followed in awe as Logan led Patton away from the now crying man. Cloud, more alert now, trotted behind the group. Storm snorted at the man, stomping a hoof on his arm as he began to follow his owner.

And the group left the large man blubbing like a baby, right in the middle of the road.