Cory, Tommy, Jon, Nick and Ashlie raced back to the castle. The warning bells were reserved for major emergencies, and the safety protocol required for them to all be in the Royal Guard barracks so they could be defended from any dangerous intruders on the castle grounds. Them, Dawn and Uni were beloved by the Queen, and she made sure that nothing would happen to them in the case of an emergency.
    Once they passed through the walls surrounding the castle, Cory and Tommy quickly ditched their horses at the stables and rushed to the barracks. Uni and Dawn were already there, huddled together on one of the bunks.
    "Where is everyone else?" Dawn asked, a hint of caution in his calm voice.
    "WAIT THEY AREN'T WITH YOU?" Uni started to panic, his British accent showing through in his worry. "Where could they be? Are they lost? Are they the reason for the warning bells? Are they being-"
    "Relax, Uni," Cory responded. "They were with us. We went out on horseback so that I can do some archery, remember?"
    "But they left, and they didn't say anything, and-"
    "And every time I want to do archery, one of them is sure to interrupt me in some way. You know this, Uni."
    "He only complains about it a few times a day," Tommy murmured to Dawn. Dawn smiled a bit.
    Uni visibly relaxed. "Oh, thank god."
    Suddenly, the door slammed open and Ashlie barged in. "ALRIGHT, WHAT'S THE EMERGENCY, WHO'S HURT, WHO DO I HAVE TO PROTECT?" Ashlie practically screamed.
    "Jeeze, calm down Ashlie. You can see that everyone is in this room." Nick poked his head into the doorframe and scanned the room for signs of damage. He sighed in relief when he saw none and walked over to plop down by Dawn.
    "Guys, what's happening?" Jon sat down on a bunk by himself. "I'm kind of scared."
    Immediately Dawn, Ashlie, and Uni sat down on the bunk next to Jon and hugged him protectively. Cory rolled his eyes and sat down with Nick and Tommy. Nick looked a little betrayed from everyone leaving, but Tommy was taking it in stride.
    "So," Cory tried to ease the awkwardness (and the grips of those hugging Jon) with a conversation, "Do any of you know what the emergency is? We don't have any other ways of finding out, as most of the Guard are patrolling outside, and they aren't gonna let anyone remotely near us."
    "I... have no idea." Dawn replied. "Uni and I were just in the library. I was reading King Arthur again, and he was sketching the rows of books. We didn't have time to talk to anyone on the way here."
    "I didn't see anything interesting on the ride over. The threat must already be pretty far into the castle grounds if we haven't found out anything." Cory looked distressed.
    "We can't do much now," Nick said, pulling some card games out of his pocket. "I guess all we can do right now is wait."
    Although everyone was confused, nervous, and worried, they all joined Nick's card games, and decided to hope for the best.

    "Umm... Excuse me, your majesties?" A voice drifted in through the doorway, barely heard of the screams coming from those playing Uno inside. "May I have your attention?"
    "Oh, yeah, sure!" Dawn seemed to be the only one who had a bit of his sanity left. "You can come in here. What is it you wanted to say?"
    A husky Anim with icy blue eyes in a royal guard novice uniform like the one Tommy was supposed to be wearing stepped into the room. He was greeted by a bunch of half-hostile, half-insane faces and took a step back. "I'm sorry, if now isn't a good time-"
    "It's fine." Nick waved a hand at him. "SOME people just forgot how to play Uno!"
    "Well excuse me, who taught you to play Uno in the first place?" Ashlie responded snarkily.
    "Can you all just SHUT UP! Tommy's about to bloody win and none of you even seem to care!" Uni seemed to have a burning light in his eyes as he glared daggers at Tommy, who was grinning even larger than normal and seemingly trying to hide his face behind his card.
    "Look, I don't even care anymore!" Cory yelled. He threw his cards on the ground and stormed over to the bunk bed.
    "Maybe I should just..." Dawn put down Tommy's card for him, making him the winner, and quickly took everyone's cards. Ashlie and Nick both hissed at Dawn, making him back off a bit. But Jon decided to jump in the middle and invite in the husky, obviously relieved to have ended the torture that is Uno.
    "So, what's your name?" Jon asked to the husky.
    "Well, I probably shouldn't be talking with you... I mean, you are the royal family, I'm just a Royal Guard in training, I shouldn't be talking much. I was just sent in here to give you an announcement, but... well..." He glanced over at where Uni and Nick were gradually lowering their sodium levels.
    "I'm not part of the royal family, and neither is Tom!" Jon said to the husky.
    "You might as well be, the queen loves you so much," he replied with a little shrug.
    "Well, I still want to be friends with you." Jon smiled even wider. "And we can't be friends if I don't know your name!"
    "Well, if you're sure..." The husky didn't look as sure as his statement might have suggested. "My name is Leo."
    "Hey Leo!" Jon took his hand and dragged him over to the others, who all had mostly calmed down and were chatting again. "Guys, this is Leo!"
    They all greeted him in various ways.
    "I probably shouldn't be staying for so long. I was just sent over to tell you that they caught the person in the castle." Leo looked nervous for a second. "I don't know much information other than that. I'm just a novice; I deliver the messages, not explain them." He smiled apologetically.
    "That's alright!" Jon practically dragged Leo and Ashlie to the entrance to the barracks, forcing the others to follow behind.
    "Wait." A guard stopped them before they left the building. "Mandatory security check."
    "This must have been really bad," Nick whispered to Ashlie. "Security hasn't been this high since-"
    "Since I broke up with my ex-wife," Tommy smoothly butted in.
    Ashlie had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as Nick's eyes widened and he took a deep breath. He calmed down and exhaled, but quickly glared in Tommy's direction before turning his attention to the security check.
    "Name?" The guard asked.
    "Leo. Novice guard 4385."
    "Let's see. Leo. Ah, yes. And where should you go to reach your full potential?"
    "The mountain regions, to be able to effortlessly glide over snow and gain extra energy."
    "Clearance granted. And these are?"
    "The royal family-"
    "Plus Tom and Jon!" Jon shouted out, not wanting to be grouped together with his higher ranked friends while he was still trying to work his weight.
    "And Squire Tommy and Jon the jester," Leo finished with an amused glance towards Jon.
    The guard by the door seemed to be looking them all over, but deemed the explanation Leo had given satisfactory.
    "Alright, you may proceed."
    They all left the barracks, curious of what had happened. They all talked together, discussing their options. After some time of this quiet talking, with Leo standing to the side, watching them, Uni spoke up.
    "Guys, Dawn and I are going to go into the castle to see what's been going on. We haven't been able to get much information from those out here, so I'm hoping to find out more inside." Uni looked around, hoping for approval. "Of course, we won't go in unless you all are fine with it..."
    "Oh yeah, that's fine!" Ashlie replied.
    "You can make your own decisions, Uni," Nick added on. "We will always support you."
    "Yeah, go ahead," Cory said dismissively. "I want to get some food. Does no one remember to prepare for this sort of thing?"
    "Don't forget who brought the cards." Nick waved the Uno deck in front of Cory's face.
    "Yeah, like that was such a good idea."
    "Calm down, please!" Ashlie stepped in front of Cory. "But come to think of it, I could use some food too. Anyone else?"
    Everyone but Dawn, Uni and Leo agreed with her.
    "I should go with Uni," Leo told them. "The threat was inside the castle, and I don't want anyone getting hurt." He turned to Uni. "I won't let you barge straight into danger without a few other people there to keep you safe."
    "Alright, that's fine with me," Uni responded. "Dawn, you coming?"
    "Yeah, I am." Dawn smiled and joined the two dogs as they walked towards the castle.
    "We'll meet you outside the castle in an hour!" Nick shouted out to them.
    Uni nodded back at him, and kept walking, Leo and Dawn on either side.

AN: So here we have the introduction of my first ever OC in a fic like this: Leo! I am pretty proud of how I wrote him. Again, I am a complete grammar police, so please correct me if I made any mistakes. And also again, if you have any feedback then just tell me! I will be happy to hear from all of you.
Thanks to everyone who has read, commented on, or voted for my previous chapters, and a giant thanks for those who decided to follow me. As a budding writer, this means the world to me.
Thanks for reading!
-Helena!! :D