Popping a squat to stretch her legs, Faythe watched as her crewmates run on ahead, each taking a duck. For now the plan was for the crewmates wear the same desert robes and distract the upper ranked officers. They would then split off into the different entrance gates. That way the officers would have no choice but to go and give chase, resulting in Vivi having a clear way towards the rebels. Faythe's job was to stay with her and protect her from oncoming attacks.
Faythe was wrapping Vivi in the instructed robe, wrapping it securely around her shoulder and face, "There, now they won't tell the difference between the two of us!" Faythe smiled down at her exact same attire.
"Thank you, Faythe.. along with everyone else for this.." Vivi smiled at the girl as she hopped onto the duck's saddle, getting ahold of the pink reins.
"No problem. It's what any of us would do for a friend." Faythe winked at her, then pulling her own hood lower to cover her red hair.
"Ya..." Vivi nodded and then looked up into the distance, "We have to hurry... The rebels are almost here already."
"Ready when you are, Princess." Faythe stretched her arms out, feathers quickly taking over as they shifted into wings. Her legs grew a little as they formed into talons.
"Let's go, Faythe! Carue!" Vivi snapped the reins, Carue quickly sprinting forward. While the red head fell into pursuit.
/;/~***~/;/
Never in Faythe's life had she ever thought her 17 years of crazy antics would all lead up to this. She always thought she would stay with Dr. Hui and relax, help out the island's patients, steal some nut deserts from the store down the street. Maybe find a husband who would accept her bizarre habits. But no. She was standing next to a Princess and a duck, and in front of them was a very large army on the horizon, only growing bigger as they charged forward.
"Holy shit." Faythe muttered as she gazed at the scene in front of her, "This.. This is absolutely terrifying.." She could feel her talons shake a bit. But the thing that was off worse than her was Carue as he looked like a human sized vibrator.
"It's fine, Carue, Faythe. You don't need to stay here." Vivi stated, fixing her robes a bit.
"Nope. I keep my promises. never going back on them." Faythe crossed her arms firmly. The robe that sat her shoulder just kept getting heavier as time passed. The wind blowing it past her, only gave her a refreshed feeling.
"Well, don't expect me to take responsibility even if you get trampled!" Vivi joked.
"You choose the worst time to whip out those jokes, Vivi." Faythe couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"Ya, sorry bout that." Vivi rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
Faythe sighed and gazed back, seeing them even closer now. There desert robes are stained with sand and sweat. They were all riding horses or camels to run across the blistering heat.
Vivi held her arms out, taking a deep breath, getting ready to shout with all her might.
"STOP! I SAID STOP, REBELS! WE'VE ALL BEEN SET UP!" Vivi hollered out.
Faythe stood next to her, seeing some people squint their eyes to see if there was an actual person standing in their way.
"LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!" Vivi's voice sounded like it was getting desperate. As she yelled out a few more calls, Faythe felt a alarming sensation rise on her back and she whipped behind her almost immediately. Looking up, she paled, seeing a cannonball already fired towards them.
"Vivi!" Faythe shouted, wrapping her wings around her and leaping away from their general area.
Just seconds later, the cannon ball lands and sends a large explosion in front of them.
Faythe quickly unwrapped herself from the girl and stood up to see the result. The smoke of the explosion was almost like smoke screen, it looked like it could reach the sky at how large it was.
"No, this can't be! The rebels can't see us with all this smoke!" Vivi was starting to panic again.
"Damnit!" Faythe clenched her fists, glaring upwards at where the cannon was shot. Her eyes sharpened, giving her more range with her sight. Upon closer inspection, she saw a clumsy looking soldier getting scolded by a angry looking general on the wall. The soldier was rubbing his neck nervously, but it gave her a clear view of a tattoo perfectly hidden on his shoulder.
"Vivi! There are some Baroque members in the royal army!" Faythe yelled frustrated, "He was the one who fired the cannon ball!"
"So they are gonna provoke both sides!? I'm not even gonna be surprised if there was some Baroque members in the rebellion!" Vivi bit her lip in frustration. She steeled herself and went back to yelling.
Some of the soldiers were yelling out war cries, running forward into the smoke.
"CHARGE! DO NOT FALL BACK!"
"DON'T BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE SMOKE!"
"NO, STOP! EVERYONE! PLEASE!" Vivi raised her arms open again, waving them around in determination to stop her people.
"FIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY! DO NOT FORGIVE THE KING!"
Multiple men rushed past her. But a certain man with dirty blonde hair and pair of shades that rushed past the Princess on a stallion made her falter a bit in her shouting. She turned her head quickly, her eyes following the man, "WAIT!"
"THIS'LL BE OUR FINAL BATTLE!" The dirty blonde shouted, raising his sword to the sky.
"LEA-" Vivi was cut off by a camel's rider that kneed her in the shoulder, knocking her over.
"VIVI!" Faythe rushed forward and towered over the girl, shielding her from the onslaught of hooves and kicks. The rushing pain shot throughout her body just as it came. It continued for awhile until she felt another shielding them both. Faythe took her gaze off the ground to see who was protecting them.
It was Carue.
"OI! DUCK!" Faythe called out worriedly.
"CARUE!" Vivi gasped as they saw the army had passed already. Faythe could feel the bird grow weak from the trampling of the stampede.
"You stupid bird...!" Faythe muttered a bit angry at herself for a moment as she patted the duck's beak.
"I'm sorry... Even after all our efforts, the battle ended up starting...!" Vivi blinked repeatedly, feeling tears threatening to fall, "But I won't give up! I'll stop it no matter how many times I'm knocked back to the ground!"
Faythe's eyes widened only by a fraction as she peered at the Princess' face.
"If there's one thing I learned while on the ship... Then it's the foolishness of giving up!"
A bubbly feeling started spreading throughout her chest, a smile could be seen adorning Faythe's face. She placed her hand on the girl's. Vivi glanced to look at the red head and saw the ever growing smile dawning her cheeks.
"You know. I've had some terrible history with royalty." Faythe revealed suddenly, "It happened so long ago, that I could maybe call it a fleeting memory. But seeing you fight for your country, even allying yourself with pirates. I believe their should be more royalty like you!" Faythe pointed her finger at Vivi with a grin.
"Faythe..." Vivi was scanning her face for any signs of lies but, she knew even if she tried, she'll never find any. After all, Faythe never lies.
"VIVI!"
Faythe and Vivi turned their heads towards the figure that called out to them. It turned out to be Usopp riding a large horse, "GET ON!"
"Usopp!" Vivi smiled and was about to take his hand but Faythe stopped her almost immediately. Faythe stood up and took her desert robe off, dusting her pants as she does it.
"Hey Usopp! Did you finish off your guy! He seemed pretty strong..." Faythe muttered looking weak for a sec, confusing Vivi.
"Ya... It was super hard. Good thing I took him out quickly, it would've gotten quick sticky!" Usopp claimed.
Faythe's expression slowly turned hard and darkened, "Vivi. Go."
"What?" Vivi gazed at the girl getting even more confused.
"CARUE!" Faythe shouted, the duck quickly got up and picked up the Princess making a mad dash for it.
"FAYTHE!" Vivi reached her hand out as she was raced towards the gates.
Usopp watched the Princess' retreating form grow smaller in the distance. He then turned his head towards Faythe with a annoyed expression.
"Oh phooie! I wonder how you found out..?" Usopp's face slowly shifted into the man who was at their boat that one time.
"Usopp wouldn't half ass his victory, he would between the lines of, 'NOTHING CAN BEAT CAP'N USOPP!' or 'HA! I BET I CAN BEAT EVEN YOU FAYTHE!'" Faythe muffled a snort that was about to pop out.
"You brat!" The man grinned.
"Let me ask you a question." Faythe raised her hand up for a moment.
"What is it?" The man wearing a swan headdress on his shoulder paused in his mid attack.
"What number are you?" Faythe quirked a brow curiously.
"Why, I'm Mr. 2" The man flaunted proudly. Faythe could feel her skin lose color.
"HA! OH HELL NO!" Faythe whipped out her wings and raised them high in the air.
"WIND GALE!" Faythe swung down her wings into the sand in front of them, creating a large force of wind to blow towards the man, making a small sand tornado around Mr. 2.
Faythe saluted and then started running towards Vivi who was getting close to the walls.
"I AIN'T FIGHTING YOU TODAY GOOD SIR!" Faythe laughed almost hysterically.
/;/~***~/;/
(Word Count: 1557)