#alexcloudmillsso

You paced back and forth outside of your home. Your arms were crossed and pressed tightly against your chest. You’re so nervous, you can’t breathe properly. You feel like you’re going to pass out. Khaan stood nearby watching you pace. He let out a soft neigh wanting your attention. You looked to him frowning and mouthing ‘what?’ Khaan walked forward with his head low. When he got to you, he pressed his head against your arms.

You uncrossed them, so you could move the horse’s head up. You laid his head on your shoulder, hugging his neck. You buried your face in his mane “what are we going to do Khaan?” You felt like crying “why did you act that way?” Khaan let out a huff. You wished he could talk you wish he would tell you why he acted the way he did. You wished he would tell you who that girl was to him. You stood outside for a few minutes hugging Khaan close to you. You let him go when you heard the door to your home open. Your dad walked outside, and he looked upset.

You feared the worst. Surely the girl had pressed charges, and now the police were coming to take Khaan. “I called Lisa” your father started “and she said her and her dad won’t press charges.” So if they weren’t pressing charges then what was your dad upset about? “And she told me more about Khaan” your dad narrowed his eyes at the horse. Khaan neighed upon hearing his name, and he walked to your dad. The man let Khaan get close, but he backed away when Khaan tried to get pats from him. You stood surprised by your dad’s denial to pet Khaan. “Da-“ you were about to ask him why he acted that way, but he spoke over you. “Khaan can’t stay here” your dad suddenly turned cold towards the Friesian.

You shook your head “what do you mean he can’t stay? Dad what happened at Starshine won’t happen again I promise.” You didn’t want your dad to take your horse away. He shook his head “that horse isn’t normal” he pointed to Khaan who walked back to you. You stood in front of Khaan shielding him from your dad. “What are you talking about? All horses have bad days and that-“ your dad raised his voice, but he wasn’t yelling “I know about the eyes now!” You stood still feeling your blood run cold. “Lisa told me” your dad walked forwards “that horse isn’t normal you knew it and kept it a secret from me!” When your dad got to Khaan, he moved his forelock aside revealing the horse’s red eyes.

“This horse cannot stay here” he looked to you, and Khaan shook his head fixing his forelock. You shook your head too, and you put your hands together. “Dad please don’t take him” you choked up “please!” Your father frowned he hated seeing you upset but this had to be done. “Lisa will come tomorrow along with her friends, and you will take Khaan to someone who knows more about him” your dad cupped your cheek. “He comes from a dangerous place with dangerous people who are surely looking for him” your father feared for your safety. “You must let him go” he wiped your tears with his thumb when you started crying. “Go and pack a bag the journey will be long, and you will need-“ you pushed your dad away from you surprising him.

“I’m not going!” You cried turning to Khaan hugging him tightly. Khaan let out a snort pressing his snout against your cheek “you can’t make me go I’m not going!” You felt like a kid again begging your dad not to make you go someplace boring. The man felt like crying too this hurt him just as much as it hurt you, but Khaan couldn’t stay.

“Listen to me” he said in a strong voice trying to be strong for you both, and to get his point across. “His rider is dangerous” he waited for you to look at him. When you did, he continued talking “she will come for him, and I have no power to protect you.” The man put a hand on your shoulder “you must go with Lisa and her friends.” He huffed when you rammed into him as you hugged him. You cried saying you didn’t want to go, or let Khaan go. Your dad couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. He kissed the top of your head hugging you close to him “I don’t want you to go either, and I don’t want Khaan to leave but this is the only way.” Your dad broke the hug, and he held your shoulders. He was trying his best to stop crying “let’s go pack you a bag.”

You sat on the side of your bed with your backpack on the floor in front of you. It was packed with things you would need on a trip. You were usually excited for trips, but you held hate for this one. You closed your eyes trying to keep the tears pricking at the sides of your eyes from falling. You were in your room waiting for Lisa and her friends. They were in your kitchen with your dad, laughing and having breakfast. Once they finished you would start the journey with them to Goldenhills. Every time you heard them laugh you got increasingly upset. How could they be so happy? You didn’t know any of the girls, but you already hated them.

They were so happy even though they knew what you were going through. You looked outside seeing Khaan. He was tacked up ready for the journey. His head hung low, and his ears were pinned to the back of his head. You knew he was feeling like you. You wished again that he could talk, so he could tell you how he felt. You stood up when you heard a knock at your door. “Come in” your voice was rough from crying. You expected your dad to walk in, but instead of your dad, a girl walked in. She was dressed in fancy riding gear. Her hair was blonde with pretty pink highlights in it. If you had met in different circumstances, you would have complimented her hair, but right now you didn’t even want to see her.

She walked to you holding her hand out when she got near you, and she gave you a confident smile “my name is Anne.” She wanted you to shake her hand “and yours is?” You told her your name, but you didn’t shake her hand making your meeting awkward for her. Anne laughed nervously, and she looked at the door. More girls stood at the door watching you two. “That’s Alex” she pointed to a girl who was dressed in a very comfy looking style. Alex waved at you giving you a smile. “That’s Linda” she pointed to a girl standing next to Alex. The girl had cute round glasses and a very comfy looking cardigan on. You wished you had met all of them in a different situation so you could have complemented their styles.

Linda was already smiling, but her smile got wider when she was introduced, and she said, “nice to meet you!” Anne pointed to the last girl in her group. “And that’s Lisa” Lisa waved standing awkwardly at your door. Anne looked back at you “but you already knew that.” She was trying to be friendly with you, you didn’t laugh or smile. You just stood with a neutral look trying to hide how much you hated everyone in your room.

Anne was hoping you were just shy, and that’s why you weren’t talking but she knew better. She nervously wiped her hands on her pants. “Well uh-“ usually Anne spoke clearly, but your anger made her nervous. “We are leaving now” she walked to the door going to her friends “we’ll wait for you to say goodbye.” Anne smiled at you again. This time her smile was nervous. She held no confidence you took it all from her “we’ll be outside.”

When you were younger you had heard a story of a boy named Justin. You heard that he had betrayed the druids. He partnered up with evil people that worshipped Garnok, and he became evil as well. You heard that he was sentenced to jail for life. The story was completely dismissed by you and the other teens of the village. You all thought it was just a story made up to scare everyone into staying away from Garnok and his worshippers. Your current situation made it clear that the story was real.

The worst part of it was that you were now currently living that story. Without the becoming evil or a Garnok devotee part. The going to jail for life part was very much a huge part in your story. Just before your phone died your dad called you. At first you thought he was calling to tell you to come back. His call was the complete opposite of a comeback call. “Don’t come back to Valedale” he said to you over the phone. “Fripp and the other druids are waiting for you and so are the Soul Riders” your dad had a shaky voice as he spoke to you.

“You are a traitor to the druids and to me” your heart still ached remembering those words. “I love you and because I love you, I call you to tell you to never come back” Valedale was no longer your home. “Stay far away from Valedale and from me” and that was all. Your dad hung up after those words. He didn’t let you get a single one in. You were now a runaway from druid law. A traitor to the druids and to their leader Fripp. You didn’t care about any of them. You just cared about your dad. You just wanted your dad.

You felt like a little kid again. You wanted him to hold you. You wanted him to tell you that it would all be okay while you apologized to him for lying. You knew he wouldn’t do any of that and he definitely wouldn’t hear you out. It very much sounded like he disowned you in that phone call. You were so scared. You just wanted to be home and back with your dad. How you wished things were different. How you wished Sabine and your dad were different people. With no involvement in Aideen or Garnok. You sighed and you covered your face with your hands.

You were in the bathroom of the inn in the fishing village standing in front of the mirror. You were trying to start the day, but you ended up breaking down instead of getting ready. You missed home and your dad so badly it made your chest ache. The constant pain in your chest kept reminding you of your current situation. It always made you want to cry. It always had your eyes watery and your vision blurry. You groaned and you removed your hands from your face coming face to face with yourself in the mirror. You looked like shit.

You had been crying so much that your eyes were red and somewhat puffy. Your hair was a mess. You had tear marks running down your cheeks. You were a huge grieving mess. You let out a sigh and you shook your head. You ran a hand through your hair trying to fix it. Your brush was outside the bathroom in your backpack. You left Valedale with nothing on hand. Everything you currently had was bought with the fifty Jorvik Shillings you had in your pocket or by your very generous girlfriend. You felt really bad about her buying you stuff. Once life got better you would definitely pay her back… But… When would it get better?

When could you start to look for a job? For another place to live? When could you stop laying low? Would the druids ever give up looking for you? You shook your head again trying to keep the tears building up in your eyes from spilling. Your thoughts continued to spiral. When will life get better? When will you be able to find a job? A place to live? A new place to- your thoughts come to a stop as your brain focuses on another thing.

There’s knocking at the bathroom door “you, okay?” It’s Sabine, the girl is worried. You’ve been in the bathroom for a while. You clear your throat it’s dry and it aches thanks to all your crying “I’m good!” You try your best to sound like you’re genuinely okay, but your voice is shaky. Sabine catches onto it there’s no hiding anything from her “you sure?” You bite your lip.

Should you talk to her? You’ve been avoiding talking about… Everything ever since you left. You don’t want to talk about it. It scares you and it makes you feel like if you do talk about it all hopes of things being okay will fade away from you. You feel like if you talk about it the situation will really settle in. You fear that you’ll realize there’s no chance of going back home. You fear your dad will never forgive you. Could you even call him dad anymore? Should you call him Avalon now?

You feel the ache in your chest get worse. “You still with me?” You blink the tears building up in your eyes away and you look at the door. You had been quiet the whole time. You quickly move to the door. You hope you didn’t freak Sabine out by being quiet. You open the door and Sabine takes a few steps back from it. You follow her you go straight to her. You hug her wanting her comfort. She gives it to you. Her left hand holds your waist and with her right she runs her fingers through your hair.

She gently combs her fingers through your hair being careful not to claw you with her nails. The girl hums when you rest your head on her chest. She moves the hand on your hair to rest on the back of your head. The girl rests her cheek on top of your head. “When you feel ready to leave, I’ll call for the ferry” she doesn’t ask you to speak on what you’re feeling. She knows you don’t want to talk about it. If you did you would have done so a long time ago. “You tell me when and I’ll do it” Sabine expects you to need a few more minutes but you’re ready to go now.

“I’ll get my stuff” you make a small movement letting her know that you want to break the hug. The girl lets you go, and you move away from her going to get your backpack. Sabine is surprised by your response. She wants to ask if you’re sure, but you beat her to it. “I’m sure” you grab your backpack, and you look to her giving her a smile. You hope your smile will make her smile too, but it does the opposite. The girl frowns and she nods “we’ll meet you outside.” When Sabine leaves, you gather the rest of your stuff.

You don’t truly feel ready to leave but you really don’t want to spend more time grieving in the inn. The inn just makes things worse. The bed makes you wish you were on your own back h-… Back in Valedale. The inn bed isn’t as comfy as the one you had in Valedale. You couldn’t find a way to get comfortable. All you did all night was toss and turn and sleep for five minutes or so. You wish you were back in your room. You missed your room. You missed so many things, your bed, your clothes, your blankets, and your cozy PJ’s.

The PJ’s you currently have on sucked. They were fluffy but not enough to be truly comfortable. They were all you could find at the Silverglade store, so they had to make do. They made the horrible uncomfortable inn bed worse. Maybe if you had comfy PJ’s, you would have slept a little more. You finish gathering your stuff which is just your dead phone and a half empty bottle of water. On your way out of the room you drink the rest of the water. There’s a trashcan near the door so you finish the water before you hit the door.

Once you’re at the door you throw the water bottle in the trash, and you walk out of the room. You put your phone in the pocket used for water bottles on the side of your backpack. The sun hits your eyes, and it hits them hard. You have to take a moment to adjust to sunlight. You squint as your eyes adjust. When they’re ready you slowly open them. The fishing village makes you feel a little better.

Watching the villagers interact, fish and walk around makes you forget about the ache a bit. You look around for Sabine. When you find her, you see her standing with Khaan and your mare at a bridge. The girl watches your mare as she curiously watches the waves move. Your mare had never seen waves up until now. She didn’t really have any time to see them last time she was in Cape West and she never saw them on her time on the oil rig. You make your way over to your girlfriend and the horses.

Sabine looks to you when she hears your steps on the wooden floors “the ferry should be here in a few minutes.” The girl gives you a weak smile when you stand next to her. “You can look around if you want to” you shake your head “look at what? Fish?” The fishing village doesn’t really have interesting stores. Sabine nods, and she jokes with you “go pick out a bass you can keep it as a pet on the oil rig.” You laugh softly, and you shake your head “there are no bass here.”

Sabine’s smile widens at the sound of your laugh. “There are cod here though” you know that because you studied fish in Jorvik at school. “Well then go pick out a cod” she looks to your mare when she whinnies as a wave gets too close to the bridge. “You can make it rig mascot name it something stupid like dog” the girl looks to Khaan when he neighs in response to your mare. “A cod named dog sounds great” you watch the waves move with your mare. “I’m sure dog will be a great mascot” you laugh again “you’ll definitely strike fear in Anne’s heart when she sees you guys carry team stuff with a cod on it.”

The conversation about a cod named dog makes you feel a lot better. “Thinking about it sure does scare me” Sabine takes her phone out of her pocket. She checks the time. The ferry should be arriving at the dock soon. “The ferry should be here soon-“ the girl pauses to grab Khaan’s reins. She continues talking once she’s got them “we should meet it at the dock.” Sabine can’t wait to get home and lay down in her bed. She’s really tired. Your tossing and turning made her get very little sleep.

She also can’t wait to show you around the rig. At least she hopes she’ll be the one showing you around. Katja or Jay will most likely steal you just to piss her off. “We’re leaving without dog?” You grab your mare’s reins she snorts. “You had your chance to get dog and you missed it” Sabine begins walking down to the docks with Khaan. You and your horse follow her “because you distracted me by talking about dog!” You laugh, and Sabine says to you “too bad so sad.” Your mind is now completely off the ache in your chest as you continue talking with Sabine about a cod named dog.

All the way down to where the docks are the cod distracts you. It works pretty well until something brings you back to the ache. While the four of you walk down to the docks a man yells “stop!” You, Sabine and the horses look back to the voice. Some villagers walking near you also look back. A very fancily dressed man that you recognize at the mayor of Cape West is pointing at you. At first you think maybe he’s mistaken you for someone else. It becomes clear you’re the right person when he says, “they’re right there!” And lightning shoots past you.

It misses you by a few inches. Suddenly you and Sabine are being chased down the docks by all of the Soul Riders. Your mare and Khaan run ahead of you both. Khaan and Sabine seem to be having fun while you and your mare are scared shitless. You apologize to fishermen and villagers as you run past them. Their yelling of “hey!”, “stop running!” and “what is your problem!?” Makes you feel awful. You didn’t mean to disturb their peace by running wildly down the docks, but you had to if you wanted to stay out of druid jail.

To the villagers you, Sabine, and the Soul Riders look like unruly teens running for fun. It pisses them off and they continue yelling at you all. The mayor recognized you thanks to a description given to him by The Soul Riders over the phone. Anne knew you might hit Goldenhills. She knew Sabine might take you with her to the rig since land wasn’t really safe for you anymore. The leader was right, and she was feeling incredibly smart and lucky for having guessed right. “Stop running!” Anne yells out to you “you can come back home!” She’s trying to trick you. You know she is, but a small sliver of hope makes you wonder if maybe what she says is true? You slow down a bit which makes Sabine panic. “Your dad is waiting for you! Just come with us!” Anne loses you with that. Your da- Avalon told you to stay away from him.

He told you to never come home. Hope vanishes and you regain your speed. Your girlfriend is glad you don’t fall for Anne’s tricks. “We need a way to lose them!” You yell to Sabine who’s already looking for a way to lose the Soul Riders before you speak. “Hold on!” Sabine looks to the sea she can see the ferry coming to the dock. “Run for the dock keep running and don’t look back!” Sabine suddenly comes to a stop.

She whistles, and Khaan stops too. He stops, he spins on his back hooves, and he runs to Sabine. You follow her instructions, and you keep running. You pray to Aideen your girlfriend knows what she’s doing. Can you even pray to Aideen anymore? Or does she hate you too? The Soul Riders keep yelling at you to stop and turn around as you run. Your mare looks back at you and she neighs. The poor Lipizzaner is freaked out. “It’s okay girl!” You try to comfort her “keep ru-.”

Now it’s your turn to freak out as a huge burst of heat followed by a blaze of light happens behind you. You can hear villagers yell “fire!” Now everyone is running. Not to you anymore but away from you as the fire continues to grow and spread down the docks. The fire follows you; you don’t look back you’re too scared to, but you know it follows thanks to the growing heat and light. You want to look back you want to make sure Sabine is okay. Who caused the fire? Did Sabine do it? Did Alex do it with lightning?

Your mare neighs again, and she looks past you. You look back you’re met with Khaan running to your side. The steed seems very energetic and not at all scared of the flames behind you. He neighs again, and he shakes his head giving you a little rear mid run. You go wide eyed when you realize his hooves are leaving burn marks on the wood in the shape of his horseshoes. You look behind him seeing Sabine running beside the flames. The further Khaan gets from her the weaker they get. You quickly understand Sabine caused the fire herself. Not with gasoline and a match but with her magic.

You knew she had magic like the Soul Riders, but you had never seen her use it until now. When the girl feels eyes on her she looks away from the fire she’s spreading and to you. “I told you not to look behind you!” She shakes her head at you, and you can tell she’s being playful. “I’m not a very good listener!” You slow down as you realize there’s no more need for running. Your mare who had been watching you the whole time also slows. She doesn’t walk to you she’s too scared of the flames.

Khaan doesn’t slow he keeps running he bucks and rears as he runs. He’s happy it’s been a while since he and his rider worked together to make a fire. Sabine stops the flames from spreading further and she walks to you. She checks you making sure none of the flames touched you. You allow her to check you. When she makes sure you’re okay she checks your mare. You watch the ferry dock as she checks up on your mare. Once docked the person driving the ferry waves to you from the control room.

You wave back letting them know you see them. Normally the people driving the ferry would ignore passengers, but Sands told them to be kind to you. You were his guest after all, and you deserved to be treated with great care. When the checkups on your mare are done you, Sabine, and the horses board the ferry. You are finally free to relax. No more running and no more worrying. You just lean against your mare and you both watch the waves as the ferry takes you to the oil rig. You can finally breathe.

As Anne watches the ferry pull away, she groans and facepalms. Linda and Lisa say nothing, they just watch the ferry pull away from the docks. The further the ferry gets the more the flames die out. Alex frowns, and she fixes her beanie it got messed up while she was running “Avalon is going to kill us.”

Arriving at the oil rig was nothing like how you had expected it to be. You expected to be greeted sure but nothing like how you were welcomed in. You were treated like royalty. Your mare was taken from you, and she too was treated like she was Jorvik royalty. Your backpack was also taken from you. A worker said it was going to your room. You were surprised by the fact that there was a room waiting for you. You were incredibly confused but very pleased.

Sabine didn’t like it at all. Something about it all felt off. She didn’t say anything to you about it. She didn’t want you to worry. You had to climb up a lot of stairs. On your way up you and Sabine talked. She told you about Mr. Sands. From her description of him you understood the man wasn’t very nice. The girl told you to leave all the talking to her. You had no problem with that. You would rather she talk, and you stay out of the way. You didn’t want to piss Mr. Sands off. When all the stair walking was over Sabine led you inside a building.

The building was dark and it was really cold, it freaked you out a bit. You walked down long metal hallways that echoed every step and every word. Sabine led you deeper into the building. She was leading you to the center of it where Sands office was. Halfway through the hallways Katja and Jay met up with you and Sabine. The two said a quick hello to you and then they started talking to Sabine.

This time you couldn’t hear anything they were saying. They were being really quiet so you wouldn’t hear anything. The echoes of your footsteps also made it hard to hear. All the Dark Riders stopped to talk, but you kept on going. You hadn’t even realized they weren’t behind you anymore. You kept walking deeper and deeper into the rig. By the time you realized you were alone it was too far to turn back. You stood in place wondering what you should do.

Should you turn back and make a double trip? Or should you stay and wait for Sabine and the others to find you? As you tried to decide you heard footsteps. They were coming your way. You looked down the hallway you assumed they were coming from. It was really hard to pinpoint where they were from. The echo was making it hard to guess. “I’ve been expecting you” you hear a voice behind you. It belongs to a man who sounds like his throat is very dry.

His tone is happy but it’s not genuine happiness. You look behind you. You’re met with a man who seems to be in his 50’s. He’s wearing a tan coat and a suit with a red bowtie underneath the coat. “I’m so happy you made it” the man smiles at you. His smile seems more like the fang bearing of a wolf than a smile. “I hope your journey here was a good one?” He walks forwards to you. He takes your hands, and he gives them a tight squeeze.

The squeeze is comforting, it reminds you of the ones your d- Avalon used to give you. The action makes your eyes water. The man tells you it’s okay to cry. He tells you he knows what you’ve gone through. The care he gives you makes your guard drop. You feel safe with him. That’s exactly what he wants. The man is just pretending. He has no real care for you. He just wants to use you for information on Valedale. “Welcome home” the man says, and he pulls you in for a hug. You allow it and you hug him back trying to replicate the hugs Avalon would give.

“Welcome to the team.”

You let out a shaky sigh as you approach Sunfield farm. You can hear pigs happily oinking and splashing around in mud. ‘Just like in cartoons’ you think. You frown as you start to feel bad due to the fact that you are currently on your way to ruin their fun. You have been tasked with freeing the pigs. As you get closer to the farm you see that no one is around. The Sunfield family went to Jorvik stables to see the activities at the equestrian festival. Behind you your horse follows you. They keep their head low trying to be sneaky. They take small quiet steps. They look funny, you want to laugh, but the bad feeling in your stomach doesn’t allow you to. You walk to the pig pen seeing the happy pigs still oinking and rolling in mud. Some pigs are sleeping, and some are busy eating. The ones who roll in mud notice you, and stop rolling to walk up to you expecting a treat. The pigs recognize you. You helped the Sunfields before with their livestock, and that is how the pigs came to know you. Your horse walks up to the pen putting their head inside to sniff at one of the pigs who sniffs your horse back. You look to the gate… Can you really go through with this? You know you’ll get a nice reward for it, but it doesn’t make you feel any better. “Promise me you guys won’t cause too much trouble” you say to the pigs who oink back at you as if saying ‘we promise!’ You take a deep breath in, and then you let it out. At the same time you exhale, you open the gate. The muddy pigs run out of their pen following the smell of baked goods. Someone was selling pastries at the festival. You hoped the pigs wouldn’t bother the seller too much. Your horse neighed looking at the pigs who were still eating and sleeping. You were never told you had to free all the pigs, so you leave the ones eating and sleeping alone. You close the gate, and you watch the free pigs make their way into the stables. You feel bad really, really bad for doing what you did. You hope you can help gather the pigs up. Your horse watches you as you walk to their side. They stand still while you mount them. “Come on” you click your tongue, and they walk “we have to help gather the pigs.” You click again, and your horse speeds up into a trot. You and your horse ride all the way to the big arena in Jorvik. Halfway into it you’re stopped by a Friesian with red glowing eyes who snorts at your horse. Your horse’s ears go back, and they let out an angry neigh. The Friesian does not respond, they just stand still. The rider on their back speaks “you actually did it.” The rider sounds surprised she laughs softly “I was expecting you to chicken out.” The Friesian walks to your horse’s side putting you and the rider on the Friesian side by side. “I underestimated you” the rider reaches into their saddlebag, and you watch as they pull something out. “Here” she holds it out to you “your reward as promised.” You take it from her your thumbs brushing for a second. A light blush covers your cheeks. “A shirt?” You look down at the neatly folded shirt and under it is a vest with a logo stitched onto it. The same logo the rider wears proudly on her vest and the Friesian on his bridle. “I had some shirts left over from my club” she smiles at you, and you can’t help but turn redder at her smile. You swallow the lump in your throat nodding to her “thank you its-“ you pause looking at the shirt. “Its really nice I like it” you look back to the rider. The woman has something in mind “wear it then.” You open your mouth to protest why you can’t wear it, but the rider doesn’t allow you to speak. She holds her hand up “you said you liked it.” She lowers her hand once she knows you won’t try to speak over her. “Are you lying?” She raises an eyebrow, and you huff “I’m not lying I really do like it.” The rider pats her horse when he snorts. The Friesian is getting tired of standing around. “Then why won’t you wear it?” You roll your eyes at the rider “you know damn well why I can’t wear this shirt.” The rider gives you a ‘go on’ gesture wanting you to explain why you can’t wear the shirt.

She knows it, but she just wants to waste your time. You know what she’s doing thanks to the smile on her face. You groan “you’re a dark rider!” You whisper yell “if my friends see me with this shirt on they’ll kill me!” Obviously your friends wouldn’t hurt you, but they would definitely be a little mad. “I really do like the shirt but I also like living” you put the shirt in your saddlebag. Your horse flicks their tail trying to hit the saddlebag. They’re trying to tell you ‘don’t take the shirt!’ The rider watches as you put it away. You speak again with a frown on your face “It’s a very nice shirt but if my friends knew I helped you I would get in huge trouble” you really didn’t want any trouble. “I’ll wear it on my own time though away from everyone else” you reach out to put a hand on the rider’s hand. She allows it, and now it’s her turn to blush. “Thank you Sabine” you smile at her, and she feels her blush get worse. The woman looks away from you “chicken.” She’s trying to keep you from seeing her blush. She teases you wanting to keep being mean to you, so you won’t know how she feels. You laugh at what she says ignoring the blush on her face “chicken?” She looks back at you, and you shake your head at her “I freed the pigs I’m not a chicken!” Sabine rolls her eyes “but you won’t wear the shirt, so you’re still a chicken.” Her horse looks back at you both still seeing the two of you touching hands. You both forgot, and you were in the middle of the arena talking as if you were friends and looking like you were holding hands. You both stay in the arena talking for a while with your hands still together. Sabine noticed after a while, but did not move her hand… She wondered if you noticed too. You didn’t, you were too busy defending yourself to notice it. As you both talked, two people took notice of you both. You didn’t even hear them, or see them coming. You were made aware of their presence when lightning raced past the space between you and Sabine. You both went wide eyed, surprised by the lightning. Your heart dropped, and hers raced at the thought of a fight. In perfect accidental unison you both looked at the person who shot the lightning at you. Alex angrily stood a few feet away from you. Lightning gathered in her hands, and behind her stood Linda. Linda was the opposite of Alex she was calm and collected and she had a big smile on her face. “What are you doing?!” Alex shot the question at the both of you, but only you answered, “we’re just talking.” You tried to remain calm. You knew Alex wouldn’t hurt you, but you were still scared of what words and curse words she had in store for you. The soul rider narrowed her eyes at you “talking with the enemy? And holding hands?” Once again in perfect accidental synchronization you both looked down at your hands. You quickly removed your hand apologizing to Sabine. When you apologized Alex groaned “don’t apologize to her!” You looked back at Alex, but Sabine didn’t. The woman put a hand on your shoulder. The contact sent shivers down your spine, and you looked at her. She wished you “good luck” before riding away leaving you to fend for yourself. You wanted to shout ‘really?!’ At her but you decided not to. Instead you moved your focus back to Alex who was still very, very mad. “I can’t believe you! Making friends with the enemy!” Alex shook her head looking at you like a disappointed mother. Linda on the other hand looked proud she let out a giggle “or is she your girlfriend?” She saw you two holding hands, and she also saw the blushes on your faces. The crushes you both had on each other were so obvious it hurt that neither of you knew they were mutual. Your face burned bright red “she’s not my girlfriend!” You covered your face, and your horse neighed. They neighed like they were laughing at you which made Linda laugh. Alex found nothing funny about the situation. To her this was the greatest betrayal, but to Linda it was the greatest fanfic trope. She was honestly a bit jealous of you, she too wanted a villain to be in cahoots with her.

“I think you guys are cute together” Linda let out a happy sigh “even if she may be evil.” The woman felt that Sabine and the others were misunderstood and most likely not truly evil. There was good in everyone and proof of that was right in front of her a few seconds ago. Sabine stayed with you talking like you were old friends. She could have hurt you, but instead she talked to you. Maybe she wasn’t evil maybe she was just following orders. Alex didn’t see it the way Linda did. The Dark Riders were evil and had no good in them at all. She groaned looking to Linda “don’t say that” the lightning in her palms started to slowly weaken. She looked back at you, you still had your face covered. “If you’re going to date someone please don’t date the enemy” Alex watched as you shook your head, and you leaned down laying on your horse. Your horse was enjoying seeing how embarrassed you were getting. “Can we please just let this go?” You removed your hands from your face letting them hang in defeat as you covered your face with your horse’s mane. You hoped your friends wouldn’t tell Lisa, and you prayed they wouldn’t utter a word of this to Anne who was at the festival. Alex huffed “fine we’ll let it go, but from now on I’m watching you like a hawk.” Alex wasn’t going to let you out of her sight until the festival was over. She didn’t want you talking to Sabine again. Linda frowned, and she shook her head “don’t stand in the way of love Alex.” The woman laughed when you and Alex let out loud groans. Your horse threw their head back neighing. It was as if they were joining in to Linda’s laughter. While you tried to get over your embarrassment by hiding in your horse’s mane you heard Anne speaking. The leader brought snacks with her from the pastry seller. She was coming to give everyone a snack, and to tell everyone that Lisa had arrived. She looked to Alex who was the only one available to talk since Linda was still laughing, and you were still hiding. Anne looked confused, and she asked Alex “what’s going on?” Alex could have told Anne, but she decided not to. The soul rider sighed shaking her hands to shake the feel of electricity off “it’s a really long story.”

It was December 12th. Only a few more days till Christmas and Jay was counting down the days. She really wanted to get a gift for you. The woman had a crush on you, and she decided she should confess on Christmas. It was perfect she could just give you a gift with her confession in it. She was too nervous to tell you in person since she didn’t know how you would react, and she wanted to avoid conflict. She saw the whole Christmas confession thing in a movie once it was painfully cheesy but also incredibly romantic. Jay took Chiyo to the Winter Village and there she learned about a Secret Santa that was taking place. While Chiyo played with penguins and deer Jay listened as a Capran standing under a giant Christmas tree explained the Secret Santa. This secret Santa had a small twist people could choose who they wanted to give a gift to. Jay wasn’t interested in signing up until she saw your name in the list. Your name was among others, and it was unclaimed. Jay blushed as she changed her mind, and she signed up. she could use this as an excuse to give you a gift and if she chickened out of her confession, she could just leave the gift with your name on it and without her confession under the tree and you would never know it was her. she claimed your name and she went to look for Chiyo. She spent the days leading up to Christmas looking for the perfect gift for you. At first, she struggled with finding something for you. Jay couldn’t find anything that would match your style or your horse’s. when she asked Sabine for advice on a gift the woman said to just buy some fuzzy socks or candy and call it quits. Jay didn’t like that so she went to Katja who said the same thing and added that whoever Jay got for a secret Santa would most likely not care too much for the gift so just getting fuzzy socks would be good. The woman couldn’t find anything, and her teammates were no help so she decided she would buy some fuzzy socks and candy three days before Christmas and call it quits. Since Jay was saving the gift for later, she focused on her letter for you. In her letter she wrote her feelings for you, and she added sweet things about you into it things that were really cheesy just like the movie she watched. When her letter was done, and she was sure it was good she put it away in a green gift box she bought days ago for when she got you a gift. The letter sat in the box…Jay didn’t know it, but something was missing from the letter. Three days before Christmas she was on babysitting duty again, so she took Chiyo with her to the store. While she looked at fuzzy socks Chiyo looked around nearby aisles for a better gift. When she found something, she came running back to Jay “I found something!” she whisper yelled “it’s better than boring old socks come on!” Jay followed Chiyo to the aisle she found the gift in, and she went wide eyed. Chiyo was right the gift she found was better than some boring socks and it looked like it matched your style perfectly. The woman looked down at Chiyo “thank you Chiyo” she smiled at the girl and Chiyo smiled back. Jay bought the gift and some stuff Chiyo asked for before going back to the rig with the girl. When Christmas day hit Jay was extremely nervous. She was in the stables of the rig getting her horse. Sands told his generals to take Chiyo out to the winter village again for Christmas even though none of them celebrated it and to enjoy the small time of peace while it lasted. Jay let out a shaky sigh in her hands she held your gift was she ready to give it to you? She was unsure she thought she was ready but now she was having second thoughts. Sabine led Khaan by his reins out of the stable when she heard Jay sigh she looked to the other woman. Sabine stopped walking and Khaan neighed at Arcebus receiving a neigh back. “Nervous?” Sabine asked and Jay shook her head she was lying, and Sabine knew it the woman rolled her eyes “I’m sure the person you got for the trade will love the gift you got them.” Sabine felt she was being too nice, so she added “twenty five percent sure at least”

she nudged Jay with her hip laughing when Jay gave her an annoyed look “come on book brain Chiyo is getting impatient.” Jay scoffed and smiled at what Sabine called her and she opened Arcebus’ stall door grabbing the horse’s reins with one hand and her other held the gift. The woman led her Marwari out of his stall. Sabine and Jay walked out of the stables meeting up with a very impatient Chiyo and a tired Katja. the four dark riders and the three horses took a ship to Moorland’s beach and then they traveled to the winter village. Once there the horses went to eat some hay left out by the Caprans and Chiyo ran around enjoying the snow and the festivities. Sabine kept an eye on the girl and Katja went along with them leaving Jay all alone. She closed her eyes she sighed she was ready she could do this! She opened her eyes, and she walked going to search for you. She spent a while looking for you and while she looked for you, she rehearsed what she was going to say to you. Jay didn’t want to just go up to you and make things up as she went so, she practiced what she was going to say. This would be so much easier if you two weren’t enemies. When she found you sitting near a campfire she blushed, and she cleared her throat getting ready to speak. You looked upset really upset and Jay wondered if she should talk to you…what if you became aggressive with her? You had never done so before, but you seemed like you were in a bad mood, so she worried. Right as she was about to open her mouth to speak to you, she heard one of your friend’s call you to them. Jay watched as you stood up and you walked over to Alex who had called you over to her and she saw the rest of your friends standing with the woman. Then Jay saw Katja and Mortifa and then Sabine who was leading Khaan and Chiyo who led Arcebus. Alex and Katja yelled things Jay couldn’t hear at each other and right as a fight was about to start you stepped in between them. Katja backed up because she didn’t want to fight but Alex didn’t back up, she really, really wanted to fight Katja. that’s when Sabine stepped in and told Katja it was time to go. Sabine, Chiyo and Katja walked away with the horses. The three found Jay standing near the campfire where you were sitting before, and Sabine told Jay what had happened. Jay frowned when Sabine told her they had to leave since they weren’t welcome which wasn’t surprising but still it hurt that Jay wasn’t going to be able to give you the gift. The woman placed it down where you were sitting, and she walked away with her teammates leaving the gift there for you to hopefully find.

Alex groaned “can you believe it? Dark riders showing up here?!” she shook her head “I bet they were coming to ruin Christmas.” The angry woman kicked up a bunch of snow “assholes!” Linda backed up when Alex kicked the snow managing to save herself from it being kicked onto her “I’m glad we caught them before they could do anything.” Lisa backed up as well sighing relieved as she managed to dodge the snow “we should keep an eye out just in case they decide to come back.” Anne nodded she stood next to Alex “I agree with Lisa we can still celebrate of course but as we do we have to pay more attention to our surroundings.” You walked back to your seat as your friends talked and you sighed sadly. Today had been awful you slipped on ice and fell on your bum, your horse rolled in muddy snow and to top it all off everyone who did the secret Santa got a gift except you. When you made it back to your seat you saw a dark green giftbox and you felt like crying. You closed your eyes and breathed in trying not to cry. You picked the giftbox up looking for a name tag. You turned it to the left then to the right and then you saw the tag hidden in the ribbon of the gift box. You took it out careful not to undo the ribbon and you gasped when you realized the tag had your name on it! You flipped the tag looking for the name of whoever left this here for you to find. There was no name, so you undid the ribbon opening the giftbox hoping to find a clue of whoever gave you this gift. When you opened it, you gasped again the gift in the box was something you had wanted for a long time! Who got you this? You took the gift out of the box, and you laughed you were so happy. Your horse who had been eating hay by the campfire neighed and walked over to you wanting to see what you had. They lowered their head sniffing the box your horse found something in it and they grabbed it. Your horse snorted getting your attention and they moved their head up and down showing you what they had in their mouth. You put your gift back in the box and you gently took what your horse had in their mouth. It was a piece of folded paper. You opened the paper and you saw your name and then you sat down to read. The letter had beautiful cursive writing and your eyes got glossy you felt your face get hot as you read the letter. The paper contained the most beautiful love letter you had ever seen and as you read it you felt your heartbeat get faster. Whoever wrote this letter really liked you and your cheeks and ears turned redder as you thought about someone having a crush on you. you couldn’t wait to get to the end of the letter and find out who wrote this for you. when you got to the end you frowned, and you flipped the paper and then you grabbed the giftbox digging through it. Your day had gotten better and just as fast as it had gotten better it got worse. You put the note down in the giftbox and you sobbed you covered your face as you cried, and your horse pressed their nose against your shoulder to try and comfort you. Your friends heard you crying, and they walked over to you going to comfort you. they all asked you what was wrong, and you told them about the gift and the letter crying harder as you told them that…

The letter wasn’t signed. Jay forgot to sign the letter.