Geoff: You’re also leaving out the part where Katie tried to hide under the table, And kept repeating to herself, “I am invisible. I am invisible. If I keep my eyes closed, I am INVISIBLE.”

Jake: “Cowering,” I think is the word that describes what she was doing.

Geoff: That’s an advanced spelling word, isn’t it? Very nice.

Mackentosh: Indeed. Who would have guessed that our sweet Katie, who one time willingly jumped into the wild boar pit at the zoo during feeding time to retrieve a child’s balloon, would be so scared as to hide?

Katie: They were wildebeests. Their tusks are shorter. And I was just had to make sure he could find me if I hid under it. I didn’t want it to be awkward for him. Then I realized my hiding would make me seem cowardly so I left it out entirely.

Jake: There’s no danger of that, Precious. No one who saw you dancing on that table in your Kermit panties will soon forget who you are. That I promise.

Geoff: snicker

Katie: Sometimes, I really hate you guys.

“I want to play a game,” I said darkly, steepling my fingers in a rather demonic manner and chuckling. Those from my world couldn’t help but laugh at my stupid reference to the horrible Saw movies in which a psychotic man plays life-threatening games with victims he kidnaps.

“What kind of game?” Momo asked, feigning fright and shaking her tail.

“Capture the flag.” I said.

“Yaaay, a game~!” Gaia chirped, clapping his hands in excitement. But then he stopped. “What’s…capture the flag…?”

I slapped myself. “I woulda thought it was obvious, but for those of you who don’t know,” I turned to Jakob, Geoffrey, and Gaia, “it’s where there are two teams. And each time has a flag that they have to go and hide from the other. You’re supposed to find the opposing team’s flag and bring it back to the starting point. That’ll be this inn. You cannot change the location of the flag, it must be in plain sight, and that means you can’t bury it or cover it with something, and if an opponent tags you, then you are ‘captured’ and taken to the other team’s ‘prison’ which is a secret location. If your teammates find you sitting down – the universal posture of being caught – then they can tag you and set you free. But you cannot use any sort of chi attack. This game is going to be purely physical and test the traits we’ve been working on for a while now: speed, balance, dodging, and a new one, stealth. You’re going to be hiding and paying close attention to the citizens of Alfitaria. You can ask them about the whereabouts of a member of the opposite team, like in what direction they may have gone, but you cannot ask them if they’ve seen the flag. Do you understand?”

The three guys in question nodded.

“All right! A competition!” Geoff shouted excitedly. He turned to face the prince who was his eternal rival. “I’m going to crush you!” he announced.

The prince remained cool and composed like he normally was, but spat out, “I shall not lose to the likes of you.”

I jumped between the two of them before they could start blasting apart Margaret’s inn where we were gathered. “Not now you two. Save all that energy for the game.”

“Are you going to tell us the teams now?” Hanna asked.

“Yup. The first team is composed of Sarah, Jakob, Hanna, and Nich. The second team will be me, Momo, Gaia, Geoffrey, and Amy. You got that?” I said. They had pretty much divided themselves. I had tried splitting up the would-be couples and grouping people with others they might get along with. And with the exception of Gaia and Geoffrey, it worked out pretty well. I wanted Gaia separate from Sarah and for Geoff to fight against Jakob. “Margaret, do you have the flags?” I called out.

Margaret emerged from a back room carrying two rainbow colored bits of cloth with a white number one on one and a white number two on the other.

“Oh, no way in hell am I carrying that thing!” Geoff snorted in disgust. Gaia however, leapt forward at the waiting Clavatian woman who gave him the flag with a number one on it and the other to Sarah. Oh shit. Was competition starting already?

“Ok everyone! From here on out, it’s war!” Geoff bellowed, jabbing at the group opposite us.

“Margaret’s inn is the starting point. She’ll be keeping look-out to see if a team is able to bring the flag back to the inn. Let’s split up from here on in you guys. Decide where to put your flag and do not move it because if one of us finds that you’ve changed the location of the flag from your first position, you get automatic disqualification and will have to walk naked through the streets as torment!” I announced. Everyone’s faces paled dramatically. The other team bolted out the front door. I let them get a good head start before turning to my group and discussing possible flag-hiding spots. And for a while, Gaia was just twirling the little stick around colorguard-style, but then added his own two cents,

“Why don’t we just put it behind the counter here?”

“Is that against the rules?” Momo asked, appearing rather keen on the idea.

I thought about it for a moment. Was it…? I couldn’t recall it being so, and told the others that. They cheered. I explained to Margaret what we were going to do and placed the flag on the bottom shelf behind the counter where Margaret normally took change.

“All right team, let’s move out!” I cried.

It was a heated battle of raging minds and fast-paced running. Constantly dodging and swerving to hide behind objects or people that were large enough to conceal us. At first, my group and I stuck together, safety in numbers and all of that, but the opposite team had apparently decided to do a nasty trick and set up a look-out very near to Margaret’s inn’s front door. So almost as soon as we got outside, Nich came bolting at us from out of nowhere and grabbed Amy who was dragged off shrieking and pissed. We scattered after that. Momo was lucky Amy had been between them, because I just know that Nich would’ve gone after her otherwise. And now I was alone, terrified and gasping for air.

‘This is extremely good exercise though!’ I thought positively as I crouched behind a cart full of cabbages. I had just escaped being captured by Sarah. I hadn’t seen her because she was so short, but I could easily outrun her. I stood up after a moment of resting and peered around a corner of some building into the main street where people were running to and fro in their daily lives. They smiled at me and I waved. That’s when I heard something fall and roll softly against the back of my heel. I whipped my head around fast enough to see Jakob sneering at me, bent into a position that showed he had tried catching the fallen vegetable from the cart.

“Unsuccessful, you loser!” I crowed, and bolted into the masses of people, the prince hot on my heels.

“You will never escape me Katie!” he promised, giving chase.

I ran as fast as I could go; dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging my way through Alfitaria’s many streets and alleyways, once even leaping head-first through a stand selling jewelry and rolling with the pain out the other side. That gave me enough time to turn a corner and leap into an open window of an unoccupied home. I sat there, grasping my sweat-soaked shirt and tied not to breathe so loudly. I looked up in time to see a hand creep its way slowly over the edge.

“God dammit you stupid prince!” I cried breathlessly, and jumped up, running towards the door on the opposite side of the room. I waited for a moment; until I could feel his breath hot on me, then flung open the door, making it collide with his face and knocking him to the floor. I poked him in the side. “Captured, you sonuvabitch!” I chirped, and pulled him up. “It’s off to prison with you!”

And I guided him to team one’s prison which was the base of the Great Crystal. A little obvious, but we had to give the other team a little advantage since our hiding spot was so damn good. He was going to have Hanna keep him company while he waited. I wondered who caught her before blowing them both a kiss and dancing back into the streets to look for more victims.

I was stalking Nich whom I had found dawdling around Margaret’s inn a little while ago. At first I was nervous, thinking he might have figured out the location of our flag, but that wasn’t true. He just came out patting his stomach as if to show he’d gotten something to eat. I hadn’t expected him to be joined by Gaia. Nich had a firm grip on the Clavat’s upper arm and was dragging him away to their prison. I thought this was going to be the perfect opportunity to find that location, and followed them.

On several occasions, I had to let them get so far ahead I almost lost ‘em because Nich would meet up with one of his other teammates or something. But I managed to see that their prison was Johavsven’s shop with its door open, giving a clear view inside, showing Momo, Amy, Geoff, and now Gaia sitting with their knees pulled up to their chins. My mouth fell open.

Were my friends so weak?! Had my training been for nothing?! But on the flip side, it was rather humorous and funny and I shook my head. I waited for Nich to disappear into the distance before dashing into the shop and tagging everyone; setting them free.

“Thanks Kate!” Amy said gratefully. “I’ve been sitting in there since the beginning!”

I took everyone far away from Johavsven’s store so we could regale each other with potentially helpful information we may have found out since we’d separated.

“I know where their flag is!” Geoffrey said when it came to his turn.

“WHAT?” I asked, dumbfounded. Maybe they weren’t all that stupid after all.

“Yeah, yeah. I saw the short one, Sarah, taking it and sticking it into the ground behind the Great Crystal! I was following her and got caught by Hanna ‘cause I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Urgh…I take it back…!” I groaned.

“Take what back?” the bandit asked me. I shrugged him off.

“Has anyone been snooping around the inn at all?” I demanded, sliding back into leader-mode.

Momo said that when she’d been scouting up on the rooftops, she’d seen Jakob and Hanna looking into the windows, but that they hadn’t gone inside or anything. That was good sign.

“All right everyone. This is going to be our final assault. We know where their flag is! And do we want to run through town naked?!” I cried, raising a fist – and a bunch of eyebrows.

“Weeeell…” Gaia was stroking his chin thoughtfully and looking at Amy, Momo, and I. Simultaneously we all punched him, not noticing Geoff’s slightly-red face.

“Now let’s split up and meet at the Great Crystal in ten minutes!”

We met up in five. My team, which had in quick succession proven to be weak, really weak, super-strong, and then weak again, showed me that they were all a buncha bamfs. I was the last to meet everyone at the Great Crystal. It did not go unnoticed by any of us that Hanna and Jakob had been freed and were missing now. In any case, Gaia was twirling the flag in his hand when I leapt off the roof of the town square’s building and landed at their feet.

“Let’s go!” I shouted, and lead everyone on a mad dash back to Margaret’s inn.

It was a victorious run filled with anticipation and happiness as we drew ever-nearer to our goal and didn’t even catch a glimpse of the enemy. We soon discovered why when we all fell anime-style into a giant heap a couple of feet from the front door.

“I told you you would lose, did I not Katie?” the prince asked, smirking at me with our flag in his hand. His group was all around him, looking incredibly smug and triumphant.

“How the hell did you manage to beat us you bastard?!” I barked, infuriated.

“You just suck is all Katie. Sorry Morgan.” Nich added.

“That’s a load of crock! I’m still gonna kick your ass you pompous prince!” Geoff snarled and leapt at Jakob who, with his long arms, held Geoff’s head in one hand as he swung futilely at him. Eventually the bandit gave up. “You’re good.”

“Now what was that about running naked through the streets, Katie…?” Sarah decided to remind me.

Oooh, fucking joy.

“I-I-I…h-hadn’t been planning on…th-this I s-s-s-swear you guys!” my teeth were chattering insanely right now. That was probably due to the fact that Gaia, Momo, Geoffrey, Amy, and myself were huddled on the front stoop in the long towels that were otherwise to be used once you got out of the bath. Momo, Amy, and I had one draped over our shoulders and were shaking together while Gaia and Geoff – probably in a last-resort chance to prove their ‘manliness’ – just had one wrapped around their waists and were shirtless. Naked were we all beneath the towels as well. That whole having to ‘run naked through the town at night’ bet had been a totally random on-the-spot thing I’d come up with. I didn’t actually think that they were going to make us do it!

My friends looked pissed.

A couple of the townsfolk were straggling and casting us extremely put-off looks. Like we were drug addicts or something.

“Y-you stupid…d-d-dumbass…!” Amy whimpered, shaking as a cold wind tore through the streets.

“Come on you guys. We made a bet and now we’ve gotta follow up on it, y’know!” Gaia pointed out, oh so helpfully.

“He’s right. We’ve gotta prove we ain’t afraid of a challenge!” Geoffrey added, gripping his towel. He was gritting his teeth; ‘though it was probably just because the others who’d won the game were grouped around the front windows of Margaret’s inn and were peering out, laughing hysterically. The bandit’s hands tightened further on his towel and the prince I saw leapt back from the window. But it was too late.

Geoffrey had ripped off his towel at the same time Gaia had and us girls passed out cold where we were. Jakob’s rescue had come just a little too late.

After the two boys’ rather EMBARRASSING ‘striptease’ Jakob’s hostility toward them increased tenfold. And for the longest time, Amy, Momo, and I couldn’t bare to look at their faces, nor could the others. They would laugh, but us three were scarred.

I increased the training a lot after that.

And once the letter from Johavsven arrived telling us that all of our things were finished a couple of weeks later – at the end of our two-months notice – my drive returned as well. I was going to head out of this town as soon as possible. Mackentosh’s warning was still ringing in my ears at this point, and I was not going to forget that now I only had about ten months left before it was all over.

We arrived at the shop almost immediately after I had read the letter. I whisked everyone away right away. I explained along the way what was up and what I was planning on doing. Meaning, we were going to leave as soon as we had mastered our work with these weapons and shields and armor and such. I didn’t know how long that was going to take, but I was looking forward to it nonetheless. I could tell the others were as well because their eyes started shining when they heard our things were done.

“JOOOOOO!!!” I cried, kicking open the door to his store. I dashed inside and started waving frantically at the startled Liltian man behind the counter. He was clutching his heart and looking rather agitated that I had broken his door. He argued with me for a bit about it, but later took us all into the back part of his shop at once to show us his handiwork.

“Ah saii ish duh besht wurrk ah’ve eva duhn ef ah do shay sew mahshelf.” Johavsven said, gesturing to a counter that held our array of goodies. I couldn’t help but squeal in delight at the sight of all of our brand-spanking-new things. They sparkled and glimmered beautifully and I couldn’t wait to put them on and start beating the shit out of enemies I may encounter. I bit on my knuckles to stifle the giggles coming out of my mouth.

“You’re really starting to like this sort of thing aren’t you Katie?” Nich asked me, smirking as he scratched the old scars on his forearms given to him by the Shangri-La Wolves. I nodded eagerly at his question, unable to form any other coherent sentence.

“Kom ohn den. Lutz get’choo sootuhd up den. Yer trahnen starts tuhdah.” Jo said, pulling me forward first. He then proceeded to fit me with my armor and accessories; attaching a strap here or tightening some strings elsewhere. I was fidgeting nervously. When Jo slipped my new Excalibur into the sheath at my hip, I yelped with joy and whipped it out to look at its fiery golden tip. I moved out of the way to wait while the others got themselves ready.

RAC: Wooo! I'm so excited for this story to be done you guys! You have no clue. LoL. AND my anime convention is coming up soon! 48 days baby! I also have a new cosplay added to my arsenol: Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club! Yaay! Review?