*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Earth's Knight - Ruth Watson* Part 2 - NARTHWICH

Chapter Four - Making Appearances

*Watson's POV*

We have been walking through the forest, keeping the rising sun on our left, for a few hours now. I had started making small talk in the attempt to get to know our new friends better. Hewitt and Alpin make the effort, whereas Sawyer reminds me a lot of Hunter with his short answers.
"How long you been with the guards then, Sawyer?" I ask.
"Couple of months," he grunted.
"Oh... That's cool..." I looked to Goodwin who looked amused and shook her head. I smirked back.
"What about you, Hewitt?" Dean asked. "You look like you've been doing this for a while."
Hewitt smiled at Dean. "I joined just after Sawyer, but before Alpin."
"How did you get into Archery?" Green asked her. "I've always wanted to learn archery but no one I knew really did it, and I didn't want to teach myself."
"Oh, well. My dad used to take me to those caravan parks for our holidays, and we always did the archery and abseiling activities that the parks offer." She said off handedly.
"Wow!" Dean said. "I would have loved to have gone on one of those type of holidays. I never went on holiday because my mum wasn't well..." She trailed off thinking about her mum.
"Who'd have thought those activities would turn out to be advantageous to us one day." I chuckled, distracting everyone from Dean. "You're a true asset to the team, Hewitt."
Hewitt chuckled. "Thanks. Yeah, who knew, huh? Dean, are you ok, sweetie?"
We all stopped and looked to Dean. She had hung back after mentioning her mum and was standing there with her arms hung by her sides.
"We'll catch up, guys. You keep going." I instructed and walked back to face Dean. "You ok, hun?"
Dean sniffed, and removed her helmet to wipe her tears away. "Yeah, I just... I'm sorry."
"What are you apologising for?" I pulled her into a hug, which didn't feel as close as I hoped thanks to the armour. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You're worried about your mum, that's completely normal. Anyone with a heart knows that."
"I know that, I mean I'm sorry for breaking down like that." She put her helmet on and her eyes met mine. "I should have been more in control."
"More control, my arse!" I snorted. "I would be breaking down too if I was in your position. Heck, even the chatterbox Sawyer would break down!"
She made a strangled noise, halfway between a laugh and a cry, and shook her head. "I feel like I shouldn't be showing any weaknesses in this armour, that's all."
"Stop putting yourself down. Now, come on. We need to catch up to the others." I pulled on her arm gently and led her quickly to meet up with them.
Goodwin put her arm around Dean and gave her a squeeze, while Green patted her shoulder. I smiled at them comforting her.
"Righty, then. Lets get going again." I chirped, and took the lead."You were the last to join up then, Aplin?" I continued our conversation from where we left off.
"Well, I think you'll find that you were the last to join, Miss Watson." He said jokingly. "But yes, I only joined a month ago. I was a woodcutter before I joined, and wanted to do something a little more worth while than just cutting down trees."
I quietly giggled stupidly when he called me "Miss Watson", then quickly regained my composure. "Well, that benefits us and makes sense why you've continued to use an axe."
"How about I ask you a question now, hmm?" Alpin stepped in to walk beside me, very closely but I didn't mind. "How comes you have that sword?"
"Oh..." I glanced over my shoulder at Dragonwraths hilt. "Well, Goodwin and I went exploring about a week ago, just before the Mournestrike. It helped me defeat a Vexwraith when it attacked Goodwin."
"Whoa." Alpin breathed, looking at me, his smirk making my heart melt. "That's impressive. You defeated it all by yourself? No help at all?"
"It was only Watson and me there." Goodwin stepped in to walk along on my other side. "If I hadn't had suggested going out to explore again, she never would have found it."
I gave her a sideways glance and rolled my eyes, but she missed it thanks to the helmet covering most of my face.
"Actually, if the Vexwraith hadn't had flung me against that boulder, I wouldn't have found it." I corrected her.
"It was still thanks to me getting you out for the day, though!" She reminded me, and I gave in.
"So you like exploring?" Alpin asked me, leaning ever closer.
"Leave her alone, Alpin!" Sawyer said roughly.
I looked back at him, taken back. "N-no, it's ok. I can handle myself." I said.
"Hear that, Sawyer?" Alpin retorted to him. "She said she can handle herself. You don't need to speak for her. Besides," he looked down to me, and I got lost in his chocolate eyes hooded by his helmet. "Needham said we needed to get to know her better."
My heart fluttered a little at his words, not really taking in what he just said.
Sawyer huffed. "I think you'll find he said we should get to know them all a little better." He grunted.
"Yeah, yeah," Alpin winked at me and strode forward.
Green took his place beside me. "Remember about Hodgson, Watson." She whispered quietly to me.
I blinked at her. "Oh, right. Yeah." I said distractedly.