The Keys

Meeting Henry! part 2

 Author's note: Don't worry guy, it will get more interesting soon, just wait a little longer.

---------------------------------------------------Henry's POV--------------------------------------

"Oh great, we lost them." Benjy said.

I answered by saying "Well, I hope the girl at least got away from the-" when I was suddenly cut off by a nearby bush rustling.

"W-w-what was that?!" Benjy stuttered.

 "I don't know," I said. "Let's check it out."

"NO!!!" He said, freaking out - but it was too late, I was already heading in that direction. "HEY, DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

There, I saw a flash of blond hair. THE GIRL!!!

"Hey, it's okay to come out. We won't hurt you." I said, extending my hand to her.

"NO, WHAT IF IT'S A MONSTER?!?!" Benjy said, cowering away.

The frightened girl poked her head out of the bushes to look at Benjy. "Your friend's weird." She stated.

"You mean Mangy?" I asked. "Don't worry; he's always like that!"

"HEY!!!" He said defensively. "What was that for?! ...and I am NOT Mangy - I'm Benjy!"

"Yeah yeah..." I said. The sound of tinkling laughter made us turn back towards the girl. "Well, I guess you made her happy, Mangy, you lady's man!"

"Stop calling me Mangy!"

The girl was in hysterics, laughing her head off.

"Hush!" I warned her. "What if the bandits h-?" Before I could finish, however, they were ambushing us, jumping out from the foliage. Bandits, and lots of them!

"Oh look fellas, we got ourselves more booty!" A bandit said off to our left. We're surrounded...

Benjy gulped, saying, "Oh boy, I KNEW I should have stayed at home!"

~~~~~~~Mystery Person's POV~~~~~~~

I erupted into the scene in the midst of chaos. It took me less than a second to assess the situation. A blond girl has fainted on the ground. A terrified boy was trying to wake her up, while yelling "HENRY!!!" Which makes no sense, because she's OBVIOUSLY a girl.

Then, I turned my head just in time to see a boy fighting a bandit... and loosing... The bandit had the upper hand as the boy tripped and fell to the ground.

"Any last word?" the bandit asked, not giving him a chance to speak. "Say goodbye, twerp!" He said and holding the sword as if threatening to slash the boy in half. It was then that I rushed to his aid, stopping the bandit's sword with my own.

~~~~~~~~Henry's POV~~~~~~~~

The bandit swung his sword in my direction...

I am going to die.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact of metal against skin. Nothing happened...

I opened my eyes to find that another sword entered my field of vision, blocking what would have been my killing blow.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, my eyes travelling the length of the new sword to find its owner; a lanky, thin boy with a mop of bright, fiery red hair, covered partially by a hat.

"Why you little-" Muttered the bandit. "That's my kill! You'll pay for that!"

"It's not exactly a fair fight," the red-head told the bandit. "Don't you think?"

"What do you take me for, kid?!" He said.

The other bandits looked at the two, chuckling evilly.

Oh boy... I have a bad feeling about this...

"And what's so funny?" the red head asked, unperturbed, his eyes dead-calm.

The bandit facing him let out a putrid laugh, smirking. "If you don't want to die, you better stay out of this, Boyo!"

The red head raised his eyebrows. "Well, at least it will help me practice a bit more with my swordsmanship." he said calmly, grinning towards the end.

The bandit facing him looked shocked for a moment, before gaining his composure. "I get it; you're dumb. Either that or suicidal."

"Neither. I just know I'll win." He said.

"Why you-!" The bandit said, lunging at the boy with poor skill.

He's just trying to scare and distract them, I realized. So it seems he's the smarter one of the two...

The fiery-haired boy was so fast all I could see was a sea of rapid movement and the glinting of swords in the sunlight sifting through the trees. The bandit on the other hand was quite obviously struggling. The atmosphere around them made it clear that the boy was letting the bandit last as far as he did, but it was all about to end soon, nonetheless...

Within two minutes of when the fight started, the bandit slipped on a patch of mud, and ended up on his backside. The boy's sword flashed towards his neck, stopping a mere inch of the bandit's skin.

"So, do you want to call it quits?" The red head asked. The bandit shook on the forest floor, and started sobbing like a little kid. "Then get out of here while you still have the chance."

The bandit stumbled his way out of the clearing. I looked around, only to notice that the other bandits ran away as the fight was going on.

"Scardy cats." the red head said, sheathing his sword. He noticed it too, then...

The boy came to where I was sitting, offering his hand. "Do you need a hand?" I grabbed it, thanking him, then we went to help the girl and Benjy, which have by now both fainted from sheer fright.

"Scardy cat..." I laughed. "Well, thanks for helping us." I spoke to the red head. "My name's Henry, and this scardy cat who fainted over there is Mangy and-"

"I'm not Mangy!" Benjy jumped up, half-asleep, but fully infuriated. "I'm Benjy!!!"

"Wow, well that sure woke him up!" the red head said. "Oh, and I'm... uh... Carl!"

"Don't you remember your own name?!" Benjy asked, scratching a bump on his head.

"MANGY!!!" I snapped at his rude reply. "Carl just saved us! You should at least be thankful!"

"How many times do I have to tell you-?!" Laughter cut him off. We both turned to look at Carl.

"Well, I can tell we'll be really good companions." Carl said between laughing fits.

I smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself..."