Hello again! I hope you are enjoying so far, and if you are, maaaayyybe consider voting or commenting? No pressure, but I just love talking to you guys! And the votes...ok I still don't know what they do, but they are nice to receive :)
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The kingdom continued to prosper and flourish. However, things took a sharp turn when a war broke out between Corinth and a rival kingdom. Life in the town continued as normal with little change. However, the king became anxious and paranoid that spies were hiding within the kingdom and were working against him: trying to learn his secrets and report them to the enemy. Despite the rational words of his queen, he was driven to the point of madness. He then made a royal decree that everyone in the kingdom was to undergo an interview to assess their loyalty to his majesty, and whomever he felt was suspicious or a traitor was to be banished from the kingdom...forever.
(In short: like 7-8 month time skip)
"Hey. Sap? Come on bud, it's time to get up" bad shook his son awake before going to a small chest of drawers to get sapnap's clothes.
Sapnap awoke to see his dad hastily running around his room. He was reluctant to wake up fully, but the tension in his dad's voice and actions caught his attention.
"Dad, what's wrong? Did something happen?" sapnap asked a little worried as he sat up
"Today is the day we talked about, remember? The day daddy gets interviewed" he responded a little shaky. He wanted to leave no room for misinterpretation of his loyalty, and did not want to chance being late.
Sapnap fell silent: his dad did explain it in simple terms to him, but for a kid his age it was still scary to think about the possibility of being banished. His dad put his clothes at the end of the bed, but stopped himself when he saw the look of fear all over his son's face.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry if I'm scaring you, I just want to make sure that the king knows how loyal I--we...how loyal we are to him. He is just scared right now and wants to make sure he can trust us, that's all" bad got down in front of sapnap, kneeling on the side of the bed.
"Scared? But he's a grown up" his fear turning to confusion
Bad shrugged "even grown ups get scared sometimes, and we all deal with it differently: this is just how the king is dealing with it" but he knew that the king was beyond scared now...and was nothing more than a paranoid shriveled husk of the once great monarch he used to be.
"Well...he can trust us! I'll fight off the bad guys and make them go home forever!!!" sapnap started to cheer up.
"I am sure he will be very glad to hear that. Now hurry and get dressed so we can get going: we have to beat the bad guys before they get to the castle!" bad joked as he left his bedroom.
"OH NO!" sapnap threw his blankets off and started to get ready. Once he was dressed, he raced out of his room and to the open front door where his father stood waiting. Once he was outside, bad shut the door and took his hand as they started their walk.
(time skip)
As they turned the long corner to reach the back of the castle, sapnap could see karl holding his moms hand. His eyes lit up and he let go of bad's hand, racing over to hug karl. Karl let go of his mom's hand and opened his arms as sapnap tackled him to the ground in a hug.
"Oh my goodness boys, you act like you haven't seen each other is years!" karl's mom said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Well it feels like years!" sapnap dramatically whined, getting off karl and helping him up.
"Okay boys: we are going in now. Please stay together and out of trouble, and for the love of honk please do not go in the woods. Today is very important, and it is crucial that you stay were we can find you easily. Understand?" karl's mom warned the two as bad walked over, nodding in agreement.
"We understand" karl said firmly, taking sapnap's hand.
"Okay...we will see you guys later. Come on bad" she gestured to bad as they turned and walked through the door. There were not as many kids in the play area anymore because some of the workers had already been interviewed and banished...taking their kids with them.
Karl started to walk back, dragging sapnap to the tree line near a patch of wild flowers. He sat down near them, sapnap sitting right beside him. Karl started to pick flowers to make a daisy crown while sapnap just sat and zoned out into his mind. Karl's mom's warning washed away the comfort of his dad and reminded him again of the seriousness of the situation. He didn't want to get banished and leave his home, or karl for that matter.
"Hey, are you okay? You look sad" karl patted sapnap's knee, noticing his friend's silence
"No karl: I'm scared. My dad says that the king is really scared of the bad guys, and that if he feels susspissus, we might get banished--" karl silenced him by pulling him into a side hug with one hand, holding a bundle of flowers with the other.
"That's ipossible. The king knows our mom and dad, and he wouldn't banish them or us" karl comforted his friend.
"Why don't you make a daisy crown with me? That always makes me feel better when I feel bad" karl suggested as he started to arrange the flowers in color order.
Sapnap huffed, and looked around for flowers, but all he could see where twigs and thick weeds growing from the base of the tree next to him.
"There are no flowers over here" sapnap grunted
"Well...make something else then" karl answered, focusing on his crown
Sapnap looked over at the weeds, and suddenly had an idea of what to make. He started to pull at the weeds and the small cobwebs around their bases to use to stick them together. He started to widdle and tie them around and around while karl gently weaved the flowers into a long garland.
As time went on, sapnap started to relax; his little creation posing a distraction from the stress he had. It was coming along very well, and he was just about done. Karl had finished his original flower crown and put it on his head; he had started to make another one for sapnap.
"There. All done" sapnap stared at his little weaving project cupped in his hands.
"oooo what did you make?" karl asked as he finished another flower crown and put it on his friends head, leaning in to look at what he made. Sapnap pulled away, covering it with his hands; karl backed down with a frown on his face.
"It's a surprise! You have to close your eyes and hold out your hands first" sapnap said with smug smile.
Karl's frown faded to a smile, and he complied: fidgeting slightly with anticipation. Just as sapnap was going to put it in his hands, he was interrupted by someone calling him, and they sounded angry. Confused: sapnap looked around for the source of the call, and found his dad being escorted by a royal guard. The guard had a metal chestplate armor set on...and was approaching quickly with his dad following in front of him. As they grew nearer, the clanking of the metal against itself could be heard, and this is what prompted karl to open his eyes and look as well.
"Take your kin and leave immediately. You have one day to pack your things and go back to where you came from traitor" the guard told bad in a booming voice.
"yes sir" and with that the guard turned and left, closing the door to the castle as he entered.
"Dad what's going on. What are you doing out here? why did he call you a traitor?" sapnap sprung up nervous; karl did the same, hugging onto sapnap's shoulder. Bad got down on his knees so he was eye level with the boys.
"Listen: remember how I said the king was scared? Well he is really really scared now. He thinks it's best if we.....go away for a while"
"....what" sapnap's eyes started to prick with tears, as did karls as he clung to his best friend.
"We can't stay here anymore.....we need to leave" bad said in defeat, trying to keep strong for his son, but on the inside he was in turmoil.
Neither of the boys could respond. They just looked at each other with tears in their eyes and embarrassed tightly. Bad stood up: "You can say your goodbyes, but after that we need to go, okay?". Ofcourse there was no response, but bad turned and left anyway to wait near the castle wall.
The friends stood hugging each other tightly for a while, and eventually broke apart.
"I don't want you to go" karl said with tears streaming down his face
"Neither to I...you're my best friend" sapnap sobbed out
"Who am I going to play with now?...I'm gonna be all alone without you, and I--" karl broke out crying again.
Sapnap saw how sad his friend was, and after some thinking stiffened up as best he could.
"We are still gonna play together" he said, almost holding his breath to keep from crying
"What?...how" karl asked confused. Sapnap grabbed his friends face to seem serious
"No matter what happens: You and I will always be here in the woods together. Even if we are apart, we will never leave these woods...they are apart of us...in our hearts you know?" a tear fell from sapnap's cheek as he said this.
"Yeah...*sniff* okay" karl put his hands over his friends
"I have to go now...but you be good, okay? Promise you'll still say goodnight to the moon?" sapnap pleaded, trying not to break down again.
Karl winced at this request, but nodded "I promise *sniff* magnus"
"Sapnap..." bad called for his son; they needed to get a move on...they had packing to do.
"Bye bumble bee...I'll miss you" were his final words to karl before he dropped his hands and walked toward his dad.
As he was walking away, sapnap suddenly paused and turned around, rushing back to his friend. Karl stood with his arms wrapped around himself, perking up slightly when his friend returned to him.
Sapnap held out his hand, saying nothing. Karl gave his hand and watched as he turned it palm up and pressing something into his hand. Sapnap then closed karl's fingers around it gently and pushed it to him. Karl looked at him confused, but all he did was smile through tears. He turned and walked off to his dad once more, this time not turning around again.
Karl watched through tears as his best friend, his only true friend, walked out of the play area...and out of his life.
"I'll come back for you, I promise.." he shouted as he turned the corner
Once sapnap was out of sight, he remembered his hand. He raised and opened it, and what he saw caused him to break down completely. He fell to his knees, clutching the hand close to his chest.
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I WANT TO CRY, WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF :',',',',',',',(
Also, I am having a bit of a bitter week this week, and I just wanted to tell you guys that if you need someone to talk to, to complain/vent/yell/whatever...I'm here :)
I know I'm just a person on a screen to you, but everybody should be able to have someone they can talk to and not be judged :)