The Cursed Princess Club fanfic: The Secret of The Plaid Family

Ch.9

Ch.9

As the heat of dawn warmed his sore body, Frederick groaned and slowly lifted himself to a sitting position. He stretched his hands far above his head, moaning in relief as his body snapped back into place with a symphony of cracks. For the past few days, Whitney's hunting lessons were slowly beating his body into a bruised, weary, knotted mess. It was hard but he was learning a lot of really useful information and skills; Such as how to claw your preys legs so they'll be unable to run, all the major arteries in the neck, using your prey's fear as a weapon against them as you led them into a trap, and how to properly run. Frederick's favorite lesson so far was learning about the various traps used in hunting. He enjoyed scanning his surroundings and mentally constructing new and different mechanisms with what was in front of him. Then he saw the tent flap come up and Whitney pop his head through it.

"Oh, good morning. I hope you slept well. Come out and eat, we have more work to do." Whitney said and promptly drew back. The boy crawled out of his tent, his bones creaking with every step. He groaned as he stood up and a wave of tinging aches inflamed his leg muscles. Whitney, who was sitting by the fire with two plates of raw meat and eggs, motioned to a steaming cup on the bench. "I figured you would still be sore from yesterday, so I made a blend that should ease some of the aches." Frederick nodded and mumbled out a thank you as he slumped down onto the log and gulped down the tea, ignoring the burn caused by the still steaming liquid. He scarfed down his breakfast with apathetic abandon; His grass hued eyes half closed with stubborn exhaustion, fighting the urge to fall back asleep. Whitney sat across and watched him, slightly fascinated by how quickly the ex-prince abandoned his proper etiquette. He waited until they both finished their meals before saying, "We need to run a few errands." Frederick groaned. "Please tell me it involves sitting down and waiting. I feel like an old man." Whitney reached into his pack and tossed him a second dark black cloak.

"No. We're going into the village."

Frederick's squinty green eyes grew to the size of serving plates as he leapt from his seat. "WHAT!? ARE YOU CRAZY!? I CAN'T GO TO THE VILLAGE! THE WHOLE KINGDOM IS OUT LOOKING FOR ME!" Frederick shouted. Whitney winced as he covered his left ear. "Why the

yelling? I'm literally right in front of you and I've already taken care of that issue. All you have to do is keep that cloak on, try not to draw any attention to yourself, and we won't have any problems." Whitney replied as he got up from his seat and started to stomp out the embers of their fire. Frederick stared at Whitney with his mouth slightly agape, absolutely stupefied. *Does he not see how that is a terrible plan?*

"You do know that the cloaks are just going to make us stand out even more? Who isn't going to be ogling at two sketchy-as-fuck dudes, one the size of a bear and the other a fugitive, and not lose their shit?" Frederick replied with cock eyed gaze. Whitney's stoic expression slipped for a brief moment; A hint of pink tinted his cheeks as he became flustered but he composed himself just as quickly. "But... We.... Ok, fine. Your right, that's a problem, but we do need to get supplies from town. They have materials there that we can't get here."

"Really? Like what?" Frederick sarcasm edging his tone. Whitney looked down. "Well, shoes for a start." Frederick's gaze went to his feet. They were black with caked on dirt and spotted with leaves. Beneath the layer of earth, his soles were thick with rough calluses.

Now it was Frederick's turn to blush. "Ok, good point. But I can wait here and hold down the fort while you go."

"Absolutely not. What if a monster attacks the camp? You have no idea how to defend yourself if that were to happen."

"I'll just use what you taught me."

Whitney's razor eyes glinted darkly as he replied,

"That's different. Those were normal everyday creatures. Cryptids... are an entirely different matter... one wrong move.... One wasted moment.... And you'll be dead on your feet."