Peacekeepers

Chapter Four - Lords

AN: Points to whoever finds the Mulan references in this chapter. ;) I couldn't help myself.

-o-o-o-

The forest slowly faded behind them as the trees thinned and gave way to endless glossy, green fields. Numerous white tents occupied a particularly flat, vast plain a short distance away.

The various sounds of the army encamped there grew louder as they approached; a hammer to sword and anvil in last minute tempering, shouts of men in combat training, the snap of flags and their curious symbols whipping in the wind atop every tent pole.

When they were roughly a five minute walk from the camp, Aaron came to a halt and took a deep breath, as if to ready himself for a trial. He turned to the pair of time travelers. "Whatever happens, don't stop. Stay right behind me, understand?"

Steven and Cynthia shared a distressed look. "Should we be worried?"

"Not exactly," Aaron replied as though the topic were a strain on his mental health. "It's just, things are very tense between the Lords right now, which in turn makes the soldiers tense. I can't guarantee what they will or won't do. Hopefully they will just stare in a stupor as we traipse through their camp."

Aaron started forward again only to pause once more a moment later. As if knowing it would cause an argument, he suggested with a hesitant tone,"perhaps if you held hands, this might go more smoothly."

"What exactly are you expecting to happen in there?" Steven pressed, suddenly much more concerned. He held no reservations for holding Cynthia's hand, so long as she didn't mind, but something about Aaron's tone worried him.

"I don't presume to know what things are like where you're from," Aaron said with a sweeping gesture at the camp. "But here, the only women present are either high ranking Lords or those in the ninja division. In other words, very rare."

"Your point?"Steven raised a dubious brow; he did not like where this was going.He also did not like the suggestion that Cynthia was a commodity,though he knew that had not been Aaron's intention. With a glance, he could tell by Cynthia's arms crossed stance, that she was none to pleased by the topic either.

"I simply do not wish for the lady to be needlessly harassed." Aaron turned to Cynthia and offered a polite bow. "Forgive my saying so, Miss Cynthia, but you are quite beautiful, to your detriment in this case."

In response, Cynthia simply sighed dismally. She was all too familiar with unwanted male attention since the start of her teenage years. Thus she was not argumentative when Steven acquiesced. "He is our guide," he pointed out, dipping his head respectfully as he held out an arm to her. "We should do as he says."

Cynthia rolled her eyes but nonetheless graciously curled a hand around his arm and gave Aaron an expectant look.

"That will do." Aaron nodded and finally stepped forth to enter the camp.

Thankfully, it was as they hoped. Not a single soldier so much as took a single step towards them despite the dead silent gawking. Aaron and his Lucario appeared to wield a great deal of authority and respect, among this group at least.

One thing was painfully obvious, however. As Aaron had anticipated, none of the soldiers had expected to see a woman stalk through their camp. Some of the men had even been occupied with their own hygienic practices, some disgusting, others redundant out of boredom.

There were also a handful of Pokémon wandering around throughout the camp that stopped to look. A Tepig here, and Charmander there...

Cynthia and Steven forced themselves not to get distracted by all the activity,but to focus straight ahead, following Aaron's lead as he and Lucario made a bee line for the biggest tent in the camp. There was a collective sigh of relief between them as they reached the threshold of the grand tent. The entrance flaps sported red and gold colors,with the same emblem that donned all the flags on all the other tents.