A Nightmare's Honor

That's A Little Suspicious

{F} Sky POV:

It had been a week or so since our identities had been discovered by the other leaders. By now, Sabre and I were the only thing people seemed to talk about. Of course, none of them knew that we were in the Yellow Elite. They merely knew of our existence. Every once in a while, I'd catch some gossip on who we might be, or what we might look like. All of them were inaccurate though, and some of them were just outright ridiculous. All of the hubbub around us seemed safe, though, as it was mostly just curiosity. None of the Steves seemed afraid of our existence- or, at least, they never said it aloud.

I was twiddling with a quill, going down the rabbit-hole of random thoughts, when I noticed something... peculiar. There were a few guards stationed at the door of the room I was in, but one of them seemed stiff. Not in the normal "at attention" kind of way, but in the "I'm really uncomfortable and nervous" kind of way. Another thing I noticed was that through the visors, I could just make out his eyes- they would glance nervously at me, then look away in a hurry. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I've never seen him around... Is he new? Without a moment's hesitation, I got up from the desk I was hunched over and approached the guard.

"Gold, Bee," I said quickly, greeting the other guards as I passed them. They greeted me back with a respectful nod hello. "And who might you be?" I finally greeted the nervous guard. "I know most of the guards stationed throughout the kingdom, but I must say I've never seen you around before. Are you new?"

"Y-yes..." the guard stammered nervously with just the slightest hesitation.

I immediately felt that something was off. The way he was standing, the way he spoke, every being of his manner seemed different. It seemed like he was acting in a way that a Yellow Steve wouldn't. His posture seemed alien in this clean-cut environment. I subconsciously narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"First time, or different station?" I questioned, intensely locking my gaze with his, trying to figure out his mannerism.

"Uhm-.. F-first time..." he mumbled, unable to keep his gaze aligned with mine.

I pondered this for a few moments, my suspicion rising every second he glanced away. "Come with me for a moment, will you?"

Hesitantly, he followed me into the hall. Looking both ways, I checked to see if there were any guards on duty in this area. It would be unusual, according to their schedules for shift change, but I wanted to double check. Deciding it was safe, I turned back to the guard, locking my eyes with his once more.

"Take off your helmet," I demanded, crossing my arms. If he refuses, then I have reason to be suspicious. If he takes it off and he's fine, then maybe it is just first-time jitters, I thought to myself.

"W-what?!" he faltered, clearly astonished. "But-"

"No 'but's. Do you see this insignia of the Yellow Kingdom? You know what it says? It says that I'm a Yellow Elite, which means that what I say goes. Do you understand me?"

The guard's eyes widened, and he stared at me through his visors for a few seconds. He seemed to be frantic in thought; it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Then, out of nowhere, he bolted, making a desperate escape down the hall.