Outcasts and Royals

Chapter 6

"Alright, Katherine. How is your relationship with the woods?" Erik asked Katherine.

"I can make my way through the woods on my own on the ground, and I know what can be eaten and what is poisonous," Katherine replied.

"Are you able to climb trees, hide from enemies, or use any type of weapon?" Sylvia added.

"No, no, and pretty much no," Katherine answered.

"Well, I guess we now know what we have to teach. First of all, to live in the forest for more than a few days, you're going to need to wear the proper clothing," Sylvia said as she pulled out a pair of pants and boots from a trunk and gave them to Katherine.

"Where do you want me to change?"

"Here, I'll take you to my tent. Since we like to live here sometimes, we built individual tents that each of us sleeps in and change in," Sylvia replied as she took Katherine to a tent nearby.

"Peasants of Xebia, as you know, Princess Madeline has been kidnapped. So I, Prince Nathaniel Frederick Oliver Gregorious Clancy Humphrey Archibald Leopold Edmund Kristan the Ninth of Xebia shall go off on a quest. I will rescue the fair Princess and bring her home," Prince Nathaniel announced.

"So where will you go to try and find your beloved?" one peasant asked while servants were loading all of the trunks into the carriage.

"I shall go wherever my heart tells me to go, whether it be on land or sea. I don't know how long it will take me, which is why I packed so many bags," the Prince answered.

"Really, it was me who was forced to pack his entire wardrobe," Prince Nathaniel's servant Gary whispered to Matteo.

"And he'll be going in the direction I think will be best," Matteo replied.

"But, if all goes right, both the Princess and myself will return home, and our kingdoms will join in unity after I propose to her," Nathaniel concluded. The crowd cheered as the Prince entered the royal carriage to begin the journey.

"So now that you are properly dressed, your first lesson in surviving in the woods as an outcast is being able to climb trees properly. It will be useful either for escaping enemies or finding better food that grows on trees," Erik said after Katherine and Sylvia came out of the tent again.

"So go over to that tree and show us your climbing abilities!" Paris commanded.

"Wait, so you're just going to have me try to climb a tree on my own without any experience?" Katherine questioned, confused about the teaching methods being used.

"We want to see what we're working with," Sylvia explained.

Katherine walked up to the tree to see if there was somewhere she could get a grip. She grabbed onto the tree and tried to climb it. Unfortunately, when she was less than five feet off the ground, Katherine fell back down.

"Yeah, this might take a little while," Paris realized.

"Tip: study the tree before you climb it and see what you can use to your advantage," Erik suggested.

Katherine took a few minutes to look around the tree she was trying to climb and thinking about what supplies could help her with the task.

"Actually, do you have some rope I could use?" Katherine asked after getting a better look at the tree.

"I don't quite know what's going through your head right now, but I'm interested to see where this goes," Erik said as he gave her some rope.

Katherine quickly tied one end of the rope around her waist and threw the other side over the nearest tree branch. After a few more tweaks, Katherine was off the ground sitting on a branch.

"I mean, you aren't always going to have a rope with you, but for a beginner, you didn't do poorly at all," Paris critiqued.