Inspiration + Motivation = A longer chapter than usual

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And so I started my journey to Monarch's Castle, to free my uncle from their grasps.

I walked towards a nearby road that I knew and waited in the bushels.

I can hop on the back of a merchant's cart and ride that to the castle, so I don't have to worry about walking that far.

While waiting, I took out a rag I had and went to the stream. When I looked in, I was shocked at my reflection. For the first time in a while, I actually saw what I looked like.

There were scrapes all over my arms and a bit on my face too. And my hair looked like it hadn't been washed in forever, I can say that's somewhat true. I dipped the rag into the water and squeaked it when I took it out.

I tried my best to make myself look a little more presentable.

Soon enough, I heard the clickety- clack of the horses shoes on the cobblestone.

The merchant, I assumed, was looking a little drowsy, like he was about to fall off the bench he was sitting on. I used this to my advantage.

When he had gone far enough to the point he couldn't see me, I carefully hopped on the carriage, in the back. I put my back against the wall separating this part of the carriage to the place where the driver usually sat.

I let out a sigh of relief and got comfortable, I would be here for a while.

"Hey!"

The voice brought me back to consciousness.

I opened my eyes and when I saw a boy's face a little too close to mine.

My reflexes kicked in, and kicked him in the face.

¨Hey!" he held his now bloody nose and collapsed in a painful hunched position.

No!

I can't be captured now!

I jumped out of the carriage and ran off the cobblestone road. I heard rusling behind me so I ran even faster away. I spotted a forest in the distance and ran faster towards it.

"Wait!" I heard, to what I knew now as the merchant who had almost dozed off yesterday night, or early morning.

Should I listen to what this guy has to say to me, or should I keep running?

How about both?

I spotted a nearby branch on the ground and picked it up.

This should be a good enough weapon.

I stopped running and turned around. I waited a couple seconds for him to catch up. As he came closer, I didn't see any of that intent to kill look in his eyes, instead I saw desperation. He leaned against a nearby tree to catch his breath. Even though he was a good hundred feet away, I could hear his heavy breathing.

I suspiciously walked towards him, gripping the branch tight.

"What do you want?" I questioned, pointing the piece of the tree at him.

"I just wanted to ask-" he paused to even his breathing, "Why were you in my cart?"

I looked at him and smirked, "Why do you want to know?".

He ran his hands through his shaggy black hair and looked up towards the sky, as if he was trying to think of a good response.

"Are you homeless?"

I was a bit taken back by the suddenness of the question.

"What?! No I am not!" I declared putting the giant stick on the ground to emphasize my point.

"So why did you stowaway on my cart?" he looked at me and narrowed his eyes, as if he were peering into my soul.

I felt a little guilt rise up in my stomach.

" I just needed a ride to the castle . . ."

His eyes almost looked like they were about to pop right out of his skull.

"What the-!" he grabbed me tightly by the shoulders, "Why would you want to go there!!"

¨They took my uncle!¨ The waterworks began to spill again at the mention of him again.

He paused.

And turned away.

Is he okay?

I actually held a little concern for him, maybe he lost someone to those evil people.

I cautiously walked closer and tapped his shoulder. To my suprise, he was actually crying.

"Did they take someone you knew too?" I asked, trying to sound sincere.

He must have not wanted to speak because he nodded his head.

I gave a small smile because there was someone who could understand the pain, but that happiness soon turned into anger when I realized that many other people had suffered, due to the monarch's crazy ideas.

After he finished his emotional breakdown, he told me about his wife and children who had been taken to the capital, due to people thinking that they might have been spies from the technocratic republic on our borders.

Since their rulers were the smartest in the country, we have to be careful because they could have invented invisible weaponry or shape-shifting machines.

We looked at each other and nodded our heads.

It's like we knew what we both were thinking.

"Anyway," I mumbled while darting my eyes to a nearby frog in the grass. "I never got your name, care to tell me?"

"Oh, it's Lucuis, but my friends know me as Luc {pronounced like Loose}" he gave me a little wink. "What about you?" "My name is -"

"Ahh!!!!"

Luc screamed so high that I thought it was a girl who screamed.

"What happened?!!" Even though I only knew my new friend for fifteen minutes, I was already having a heart attack over him.

He pointed to a frog in the grass. It was the one I saw a bit earlier. Now that I looked at it again, it had an odd color.

It was golden-colored.

Like a metallic golden color.

Ehh, it's probably nothing.

I kicked it and it went flying.

I heard a distant clunk and a faint smell of smoke.

Oh well.

Anyway, back to the more important situation.

Luc and I both shared an awkward glance with each other.

He was blushing really hard that I could have mistaken it for a giant tomato with a face, which is creepy now that I think about it.

He gave a forceful cough and tried to change the topic, "Anyway, let's keep going to the capital"

I mimicked his expression, ¨Yeah, let's keep going¨

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Word Count: 1063

A new record (In this book)!