"I can't track her. Wherever she is, I can't tell where on the map." Kyle says after unsuccessfully pinpointing Peyton's location.

It has been several hourglass turns since Peyton got taken away from us. I've cried during the time, wiped my tears away, broken into fresh ones, wiped those ones away again.

"Would you stop crying?" Black hood demands, his serene grey eyes staring into my darkened obsidian hazel ones. "It doesn't make much difference if you cry the entire time she is away and probably getting tortured. That's just pathetic."

"What did you say?" Kyle butts in, his melancholy pale green eyes challenging Black hood. His mannerism tells me he'll draw his sword out any moment from now. He shouldn't fight for no just reason especially with a high profile fugitive.

"No he's right. All this crying is pointless." I whisper softly but I take it that they can both hear me. They sit opposite me and face the other direction, avoiding each other's gaze. "You're acting like children."

"This whole thing even happened because we were looking for you in the first place! Why don't you start using that bow and arrow of yours to rescue her?!" Kyle bursts suddenly. I think he has been holding it in for a while. He doesn't seem to like the hood guy very much. Correction, they don't like each other.

"Hey, I saved your life with this," he puts the bow forward. "And what happens to your teammate isn't my responsibility. It's due to your own incompetence, if anyone should take account for what happens to one of you then it's either one of you!!" Now he's looking at me and Kyle with fiery eyes. He's sparking and snapping so much that I'm scared to open my mouth... especially because there's a tint of truth in it.

"Tch," Kyle grits his teeth. He's as speechless as me. No doubt, Black hood speaks the truth. Kyle storms off hissing and rambling, with clenched fists, the other fist clutching the hem of his sword. He won't be back in a while, I can tell that much.

The sun is setting already. Hues of orange and pink scatter in the horizon and the crescent moon shines its brightest. I'm alone with Black hood and I've had enough of this awkward silence and tension between us. It's thick enough to be cut with a knife. I wander through the forest and stumble upon a silhouette. It's tall and manly, it kind of looks like Black hood from behind but when it turns, Kyle's damp face comes into dimmed light.

The orchestra of birdsong I could hear from them suddenly stopped. By now the sun is completely done for the day. The evening stars peep down at us like silver asters, glinting and shimmering. I sit by him with our backs against a lightning blasted tree trunk and watch the thin streaks of sunlight fade away. Coils of vaporous mist enwraps the shaggy heads of the oak trees. Boulders colonized the edges of the waterfall, buffed with pillows of moss. They cause a rocky gurgling as water meets stone, a swish, a clunk, a swell and a clop.

"Remember when we used to play Castle as kids?" I start the conversation.

Kyle replies with a subtle nod of the head but it does not satisfy me so I push on. "Those used to be the best days of our life. Never did I think one of us would become an actual damsel in distress. But it's happening now and I'm just sitting around because there's nothing I can do..." I croak. My voice lodges in my throat. Talking out loud now, I realise how pathetic I sound. At this rate, I won't be able to kill a fly.

"I'm equally responsible too. If only I wasn't so slow, I would have seen the bandits sneak up on us and brought my sword out in time." He faces the darker side of the forest. I can no longer see his damp face that keeps leaking by the cycles. He blames himself as much as I do.

A voice coughs behind us. "I hate to break up this moment you guys are having right now but the best time to sneak attacks on bandits like those guys is at night." Black hood stands behind us creepily, hiding a sheepish smile.

"How do you know that?" Kyle retorts. He always has a reply for Black Hood. Like he's just waiting for him to say something so he can fire away.

"Well if you're asking the number one fugitive what he knows about bandits, then a lot." He says it as a joke but neither of us is cracking a smile so he adds, "But you're not asking. Look... the point is I can help you."

"We don't need your help!" Kyle snarls immediately.

"Yes you do. You're so slow in drawing out that thing you carry around that it's useless, practically dead weight." He squints in my direction. "You are too normal to do anything, or rather... you're weak."

The jerk-face keeps talking but I'm too busy keeping my temper in check to respond. He emphasises that he can help us, but why would he? Why should he? Why is he, a fugitive that could be captured and killed staking out his life for a stranger he barely knows? As some righteous villain or misunderstood hero? He is too complicated to figure out. I don't understand his objective but I can't think of anyone else to ask for help, especially for free.

"Alright, we'll accept your help. As much as I hate to, there's no one else that'd do this... thanks." I say it as sincere as it should sound but it's more forced and less likely sincere.

"Why, you're welcome." He and Kyle glare at each other while I simply shake my head pitifully, I never thought I'd be a peacemaker between two ego-filled-to-the-brim stupid men.

"I'll be watching you the entire time so don't make any funny moves." Kyle points two v-inverted fingers at him. "I'll turn you in myself if you try to backstab us."

Black hood has a smug look on his face. "I'm helping you but I have my own terms: you can't sell me out to anyone or the deal's off. You can't tell anyone what I'm doing for you people. We'll discuss my payment later."

So much for free help... I'm about to say my mind but Kyle steps in and comments for me, and maybe Peyton. "Good guy my æss. I wonder what Peyton ever saw to admire a guy like you... a rip off. She would be very disappointed when she finds out you are just a greedy over-compensated criminal."

His expression hardens and his face stern. He puts his bow on his back and turns to leave. "Everyone has a story, some aren't too simple for knuckle heads like you to understand. Are we helping your friend or not?" He looks in my direction, his voice as cold as ice and rigid as crystal. "Irregular?" His voice has a tint of bitterness, minute but there.

Great! I could go one day without being called that. But his has an edge to it. I nod and Kyle follows after him, leaving me behind in the cloak of the darkness. The night stars shine like silver petals. It is in this moment Deja vu happens again. I have moments like this where memories from the real world force themselves into remembrance and they get worse every day I spend here. But this time it comes with my danger instinct. We're officially heading towards the danger zone.

°°°°

The pillows hold the fort steadily as I jump on the next supporting chair. It shakes a bit but soon it stops moving. "You can't catch me!" I yell to the green clothed moving figure below me.

"Watch me," the voice yells back.

"I'll protect you!" Kyle jumps in front of me, waving a brown stick around. I sigh as Peyton kicks the stick out of his reach. I've told him several times not to jump in front of the enemy, it's a very stupid move. But Kyle, the dumbest of our trio refuses to listen to reason, claiming that a damsel in distress should always be saved by a Knight.

"Stupid Knight, I've told you not to do that!" I hit him on his head the moment I get down from the chair. "You don't just charge into the enemy, that's too reckless."

Kyle just shrugs. "If I don't do it, no one will, that's why I'm a Knight." He smiles sheepishly. "It gives you a chance to run away."

"And watch you get beaten up? Of course I'd enjoy the scene but not if it affects me too. Even Knights have something called strategy."

"Strategy got nothing on me, my middle name is Reckless. I'm feared by even fire-breathing dragons and slimy icky monsters. I'm... a Knight."

"This Knight complex of yours is becoming more of an issue by the day."

Peyton butts in our bickering. I can tell that we leave her out of our conversations most times, but that's only because she isn't stupid like Kyle and I don't need to explain simple things to her all the time. "You guys argue too much for your age, it's not healthy."

"Look who's talking. You argue the most... when it comes to food." Kyle drags her and pin her between both of us so she's in our middle. Her face heats up on hearing his accusations but she can't deny. She's practically the foodie of our group.

"Hey..." I free myself from his grip. "Why do you lie? You're a boy and that means you eat the most among three of us." Peyton looks grateful for defending her but it's still a lost cause. We all know she eats more than Kyle and I combined.

"Hold up." Peyton says, putting the green cloth off. "I never thought about it but why do I always have to be the monster?" She places her tiny hands on her waist. "It doesn't make sense that everytime we play Castle, I'm the monster chasing you." Now, she's directing it at me.

"Hey I don't get to choose either. I don't want to be a damsel in distress acting all Save me! Help me! The monster is coming! It's really not my role." I glare at Kyle. "How come you are the only one that gets the part they want? That's not fair."

"Yes! You get to fulfil your Knight dreams but not us!" Peyton stares daggers at Kyle. I look at her and we turn to Kyle, smiling.

"We're gonna switch roles." I order. "You'll be the monster, while Peyton and I will be up in the Castle acting as damsels in distress." I tell him. He has a scowl on his face but soon he's wearing the green cloth, carrying the brown stick. While Peyton and I are giggling on top the pile of pillows and chairs.

I figured it was too simple. Kyle's mentality is basically: As long as I can run around and not remain fixed in a point for too long, I'm okay.

I guess we should have been more careful while staying aboard the hoard of pillows because immediately I kick the pillow connecting us to the chairs, Peyton slides down, her head connecting with the ground and making a loud thud.

"Ow,"

I rush down, making sure I climb the pillows carefully. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Kyle is still running around and fortunately for me, but unfortunately for him, he runs into a brown wooden chair. He yanks the clothe off, looking as confused as ever before he realizes what he hit. He glances around and when he sees Peyton on the floor, he's racing here. "What happened?"

"I kicked the pillow holding our Fort and she fell." I'm about to start crying but Kyle pats me.

"Sorry Peyton, see this is why we should just stick to our normal roles." He says. Totally out of context! Kyle is just getting dumber by the minute! I help Peyton up and she gets treated by nurses when she leaves to go home.

I'm afraid. If I can cause my friend an injury like that, then I don't trust myself to play with them anymore. No, I don't trust myself to play Castle with them. So that marked the last day we played Castle as kids.

A/N:
I think I've gotten a basis for the characters and how I want them to behave exactly.
So now that that's out of the way, who's ready for a different type of adventure?
🥳🥳🥳

Ah, and I made reference from a wonderful workbook named Writing with Stardust by Liam O Flynn. It helped me with the description of the forest, check it out!!