At the edge of Emeraldene city, ready to leave to the next destination.
Sierra: "My teacher once told us that the first word in the morning will declare the events that will occur in the whole day."
Hero: "Hmm… alright."
Sierra: "I read it in a book as well. What you say and think of attracts other things. You should be careful with the words you pick. But I did not hear any negative word from you yet. You seem very positive."
Hero: "Good to hear" He smiled to her "No one ever described me like that."
Sierra: "There aren't so many people who realize these kinds of things."
Hero: "Heh… I guess so."
And they walked toward the woods
Hero: "I have been thinking about funny things last night. I've even been thinking about the knights and laugh over and over again. So, what ha—PPEEN!!" both of them fell in a looong hole.
Sierra: "Eeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
...................
After a while, Sierra woke up to see herself tied with rope to her back.
She blew like blowing a candle and the ropes were cut.
Sierra: "Uhh my head… huh! What the…?"
She can hear someone's laughing from far away.
Sierra: "Wait, is that hero laughing there."
She stood up and walked slowly through the source of the voice.
Sierra: "Yikes!" her eyes are wide. She saw hero tied as well and someone tickles Hero in his legs with a feather.
Hero: "Hahaha I haha I said I don't know AND STOP IT!!"
Dwarf: "You will tell me how did you know about our hideout or—"
Strong breeze occurred and the feather flew away.
Dwarf: "What happened?!"
Sierra with a serious look looking at them while glowing.
Suddenly a heavy wind occurred
Sierra: "Hero!"
Hero: "Thanks!"
They both freed themselves from the ropes and tried to find the way out.
Sierra: "…" looked serious
Hero: "What now?"
One of the dwarves came to them
Dwarf chief: "I'm the leader. What has brought you humans to our territory?"
Sierra: Whispering to Hero "You will talk or shall I come up with an escape idea?"
The voice inside her head: "(No… try to make them your allies. They will be helpful in the future.)"
Sierra: "Huh….?"
Hero: sweat in his forehead "…"
Sierra: whispering to Hero. "Listen. We shall win these fellows."
Hero: Whispered. "What? Alright."
Sierra: "What do you think?"
Hero: "Not intending for a fight here. Just walking by and fell into the hole."
Dwarf chief: "Hmmmm. We have to make sure you don't spread our home place to everyone outside."
Sierra is still thinking and then she remembered something.
Hero: "If you did not let us be, we will leave by force." And Sierra hit him in his back.
Sierra: "Men are always the same, everything by force."
Hero: "Heh what are you gonna do?" (^ ^)"
Sierra: "Ahem. Herooo~. We will not have time to buy peach for the Jam~. We need to buy immediately so we can open our new shop."
All the dwarves: "PEACH!"
Hero: "HUH!"
Sierra: "It worked!!
She will whisper to Hero. "I once read that dwarves' favorite fruit is peach."
Dwarves: "Talk more."
Sierra: "There is a whole new batch of peach that was supposed to come this week to town."
Dwarf chief: "Listen miss, you will stay here as a hostage. You young man, go get us peach from the town. If you failed to come today, this young lady shall be married to my son. And will stay here forever."
And his son is a fat dwarf.
Hero: "Pfffft! HAHAHA!"
Sierra: "Hero! You bring the peach immediately!!!!" She was furious.
Hero: "I have sure laughed a lot today!"
Sierra: "Quick!" and she threw a bag at him.
Hero: "Wait for me, princess. I won't be late. Wait… why are we helping them while we can free ourselves."
Sierra: "I trust my intuition…." "(Why I keep hearing a voice in my head? And it is so clear.)" she looked down a bit. "(And it tells me to stay further from Ansiton. What's going on?)"
Hero: "Hang in there Sierra…. I won't be late."
Hero went running to the village.
With his serious look and strong will.
The first thing he predicted is to encounter the knights.
Hero: "…" Very serious. He has reached Emeraldene.
In the hood in his head, he walked freely until he reached the fruit market.
Hero: "Excuse me sir. Do you have peach?"
Shop keeper: "Yeah we have plenty today. How many do you need?"
Hero: "All of it."
All the people: "What!!"
Hero: "I want it because I need it." He sounds serious. When he is around the princess, he is more cheerful just to keep her calm. He paid for the peach.
Shop keeper: "Y-yes, Here."
Hero: "Thanks!" smiled again. And he left the shop.
Hero: "(I never thought the princess will bring a wallet full of gold. Sure came in handy.)"
Sierra is sitting on her knees and tied with ropes again.
One of the dwarves came to her.
Heego: "Hmmm miss, How did you do that thing?" He is a young dwarf.
Sierra: "You mean the magic? Easy! I have memorized the spell and said it. I can also think of what I want sometime. I imagine it, and it becomes real." she was happy to tell him that. "What's your name?"
Heego: "Heego"
Sierra: Smiled "Heego! Nice to meet you!" ^ ^
Heego: Blushed "You're not scary as we told."
Sierra: "Say Heego. Why do you need the peach that much?"
Heego: "Peach is our favorite fruit here. We can make a lot of things out of it. Wines, Jams and a lot of stuff."
Sierra: "But you can use all the other fruits to do the same thing."
Heego: "Really??!!"
Sierra: "Umm… yes!"
Heego Left her and he was running. "Listen everyone, she said we can make jam and wine with any fruit in the world."
Dwarves: "What??!!" "Really??!!" "Is that even possible?!!!"
All the dwarves came to her "Tell us more!"
Sierra: She was amazed about what happened. She thought that their favorite is peach but it appears they think all other fruits are not edible.
Sierra: "Well…You can use vegetables to make soups. You can eat fish from the river. Chicken! Birds! Meat!"
Chief: "If all that was a lie you will really stay here and marry my son."
Sierra: She can barely hold herself from laughing. "Pfffft!" She could not stop herself from laughing. "I can't because I'm already engaged." She knows she can help herself and runaway in a second.
Dwarves chief: "What?!!" and he bowed "We really apologize!!"
Sierra: "I thought I was a hostage here." She was untied.
Dwarves chief: "You are engaged. This is very important in our traditions. We cannot ask an already engaged person to get marriage. You should have said so. It is a big problem here. I wish you forgave us. " He bowed again. "The gods now will be mad at us. It is a bad omen indeed."
Sierra: "It is ok. I forgive. It will be a good omen now." ^ ^
Dwarves chief: "Really?"
Sierra: "Of course" ^ ^
Dwarves chief: "You are free to go. You can wait for your friend here. All of you serve her food."
Sierra: "No thank you there is no need. Hehe… I can't believe this happened." She was happy.
..................…
As Hero was moving, the knights were everywhere. He encountered Aniston.
Hero: "Out of my way!"
Aniston: "Tell me where she is."
Hero: "If she wants to come to you, she will come by herself in her own free well." And he tried to pass.
Aniston: "This time is not like the last time, we must get her back!"
Hero: "What do you intend to do Commander? Where do you intend to take her?"
Aniston: "To the palace."
Hero: "The palace has fallen! Who do you serve?!"
Aniston: "Arrest him." He slowly spoke. He was serious.
Hero: "Heh! Just try." And he ran from them.
Guards: "WAIT!"
Hero: "Like I will do as you say." He ran so fast regardless of the huge bag of peach he was carrying.
Guard: "WAIT OR—"
Hero: "Hmm okay!" He stopped and he was smiling. "Take this!" he punched the guard and kicked the other one. Took a stick from the ground and fought the other guards.
One of the guards took his sword. Hero was about to show off his sword but…
Hero: "Dammit, My things are still in there." And he picked the bag of peach and start running.
Guards: "Huff huff. Where did he go?" They lost track of him
Hero: He was on a tree. Just started thinking "What does he mean by that? Hmm, I think I can sneak outside now." He jumped from the tree and sneaked to the forest. "I hope they did not start the wedding without me. Pfft."
Running in the wood. Hero is trying to reach the village of the dwarves.
He found the cave leading to the entrance of the village.
Hero: "Good…"
Hero was Entering slowly. "Ugh!" Hero placed the peach on the ground "I brought the Peach! Release the girl at once."
????: "Hehehe."
Hero: Was kind of worried "Sierra…Sierra!"
Sierra: "Hehehe. Oh Hero!" She walked to him
Hero: "Glad you're safe." He was happy and worried at the same time.
Dwarves chief: "We are terribly sorry. We did not know that she is your girl."
Sierra: "Huh!"
Hero: "Uhh. Oh well. Yeah she is…"
Sierra: 'blushed'
Hero pushed her to the wall and pretended to kiss her. He placed his hand in her mouth.
Dwarves: "(GAAASP!!!)" all of them fell on their knees.
Hero: "What now? Don't worry I forgave all of you. Right princess? hmmm? Princess?"
Sierra: "…hmm…" nodded. Blushed.
Leaving the cave
Dwarves chief: "Have a safe journey!"
Sierra: "Thank you so much! By the way, what is your name?"
Dwarves chief: "Ah…My name is Kazam. This is the first time in years that I tell someone my name."
Sierra: "This is one of the things that belong to you only. Treasure it okay?"
And both of them left.
Sierra: "Heroo~"
Hero: "Yes~" and she slapped him. "Heh. I deserve this." Rubbing the place where he was slapped.
Sierra: she walked away. "Keep your distance. It is not funny even if it is a joke."
Hero: "Heh, it wasn't my intention. Don't worry. I just wanted to make them release us without any pain in the neck. I know that your lovely fiancé will track me down until the end of the earth if I did that for real."
Sierra: "Although you didn't have to make a scene." She was serious. "Okay now what shall we do. The dark is approaching."
Hero: "And we can't go back to Emeraldene. I ran into Aniston back there."
Sierra: Her eyes got wide and worried.
Hero: "Don't worry. We will hide somewhere here until dawn."
Someone was watching them.
Hero: "Stop playing hide and seek." And then he turned his body to the direction of the person "And show yourself."
The person ran and left the place.
Sierra: "I can feel we were tailed."
Hero: "Don't worry. The rat has got away."
Sierra: "The knights? Or the organization? Or the kidnappers?!" She's anxious
Hero: "Calm down Sierra. Don't worry, he seemed to be a child."
Sierra: "…" looked down. "Thank you Hero." She looked at him.
Hero: "Come here" He caught her hands and walked toward the river. There was a big tree near the bank of the river. "Take a look."
Sierra: "Wow, it is so beautiful."
Hero: "I'm worn out myself, I need to sleep. Yaaawn!"
Sierra: "I will stay awake and drive the enemy away."
Hero: "But you're worn out too."
Sierra: "Don't worry about me."
Hero: "Okay, but don't end up collapsing in the middle of a trouble okay. Good night." and he lay on the huge tree.
Sierra lit up a fire with magic.
Shaima: "Sierra will be useful in this journey. She will use the spell shade to cover them from the rain. She will lit fire. She will heal. She will freeze normal water or fruits. She will help with harvesting the apples with magic by casting wind.
Sierra: "Thank you bringing the peach. And Sorry about the slap."
Hero: "Heh. No problem."
Sierra: Laid on the tree as well thirty cm away from Hero "Hero, do you think Lord Maximal is behind the kidnapping? And what is that he wish to do or obtain? I don't understand. And what is the story behind the leaf organization?"
Hero: "The king and the queen were trying their best to track them and get rid of them."
Sierra: "But the King and the queen are nowhere to be found right now as I unsderstood from aniston. I am really worried about them. We found their base!! I should tell mother and father about this after we find them."
Hero: "This is not as simple as you think. They change their HQ every now and then. That is why it is hard for the kingdom to track them down. This continent is not in the hand of the kingdom, remember? For now, just focus on saving your sister and your own protection. We can worry about the organization later."
Sierra: "Right…"
Hero: "sleep."
Sierra: "I told you I will guard you while you sleep."
Hero: "Now it is about guarding me huh."
Sierra: 'blushed' "Close your mouth. Hmph!"
Hero: "Hehe. Now I want to see your smile before I sleep." He looked curios and poked her with a stick.
Sierra: 'Laughed' "Hehehe… Stop it!"
Hero: "Heh. Good night."
Sierra: "Good night."
Sierra: Her eyes are trying to close "...Hmm…Not now… I… Need… To save My… Sis—" she slept
A shadow of someone was between them…
...…
Aniston: "You will speak or what?"
Dwarves: "We never saw anyone with these characteristics you gave us."
Aniston was holding a peach that fell from hero's big bag.
Aniston: "Tsk…." left the cave.
Landis: "Commander. We searched the whole cave and found nothing."
Aniston: "Enough. We are leaving. We apologize for the rukus. Landis. Now. See what they want as an apology and do it for them."
Landis: "Yes sir!"
Heego: "You must be talking about the girl who came earlier. We didn't know she was the princess. Since you are kind, I know you will not hurt her." They noticed how were the knights so kind to them. The knights were very polite even when they were searching.
Dwarve chief: "Heego! We never reveal secrets!"
Aniston: "...…."
Heego: "Her fiancé will protect her don't worry about her."
Aniston's vain grew bigger.
Landis: "….. Who?"
Heego: "The man with her."
Dwarves chief: "Heego!!!" then he looked at Aniston. "We saw nothing! We know nothing! Shoo!"
Aniston: "......."
Landis can feel Aniston's boiling.
Aniston turned the other side to move away. "(What was that voice?)"
He remembered that a voice in his head told him to make the dwarves allies with Crystalina.
He returned to the dwarves chief.
Aniston: "We will never hurt your people. Although you live here in the southern continent which is not under crystalina's territory. You can be under our protection."
Dwarve's chief: "I understand son. I will think about it. I think I can trust you."
Aniston nodded to him. "And about the girl. She was ok right?"
Dwarve's chief: "So you are the real fiancé."
Ansiton: "?"
Dwarve's chief: "Never mind. You can always trust her. She was telling the youngsters here stories about your bravery and honesty. And how she was proud telling the stories. I bet she wasn't talking about the punk who was with her. She barely known him. Though he seemed like a noble guy with a heart of gold as well."
Aniston: "….."
Dwarve's chief: "You shouldn't worry. Why am I being soft with you?" he wasn't sure why he was friendly with Aniston. "Now leave."
Aniston: nodded. "Tell the knights of all your needs and they shall get met—"
Dwarves chief: "We really need the humans to stop taking the children from our kind."
Aniston: "??"
Dwarves chief: "….."
Aniston: "Understood."
Aniston left the cave
Landis: "Commander."
Aniston: "I know. I will report this to Richard. He is the one dealing with the situation of the disappearance of the children. But I haven't thought it will reach the dwarves." Then took the golden apple and kept staring at it.
The dwarves chief. "So this is the commander of Crystalina. And the girl came here was the princess of Crystalina. They really are wise and kind. Listen! From now on. We shall serve the prince and the princess."
The dwarves: APLAAAAAAAUSE