War Of The Winter King

Chapter 1: A Man And An Adventure

A long time ago, just under 1000 years in the past, an old man had journeyed out with his soon-to-be wife, except at this time he was not quite so old, around his early 30's. This trip would've been a successful oppurtunity for him to make fame, except his whole life came crashing apon him when he set eyes apon a crown. A seemingly prehistoric, pure gold crown with rubies dazzling around the outsides of it. It was a beautiful crown, and of course this man, Simon, took it.
"I hope this doesn't count as theft, but just look, it's buried at the bottom of an almost forgotten stream which leads completely astray from all the cities. And no one lives behind these mountains, so I do believe that the only way it could've gotten here was from some sort of king, thousands of years ago. The geography of this place shows that it used to be connected to the great stream of the city of Ooo"
Betty (his soon-to-be wife) just listened to him rambling. She loved the way he could speak for hours, and she loved his voice. It was so soft and silky, especially for a man (who you'd think would have a more gruff voice) but everytime he spoke, she felt as if a groomed cat was rubbing her all over.
"So, do you think it would count as stealing if I took this crown? After all, the owner is most likely long dead"
The sudden question made Betty snap back into reality "oh yes, it seems like a good idea- after all, if some rich person really did loose it then it'd be on the news and we could return it. Maybe, they'd even give us a reward for finding it for them!"
"Oh Betty, you're a genius!" said Simon triumphantly. Betty blushed a little and tucked her hair behind her ear "nothing compared to you doctor Petrikov".
So Simon took the crown with him and they made their way back, following the path of the stream till they came back to the mountains. Here the stream ended but Simon was a man of great direction (Betty was better at pretty much everything else in their whole adventure) and together they climbed a little up the mountain till they found the gorge (which is yet another clue that the river used to path its way through here). They continued through the gorge making little talk as they went, but enjoying it all the more and soon they lost track of the time. The sun was already starting to set and they almost forgot about their hunger.
"We haven't eaten dinner yet!" Gasped Betty in realisation, in the middle of another one of their conversations.
"You're right" Simon felt so foolish for not realising his own stomach growling beneath him, they'd had an early lunch that day.
"And I also really gotta pee!" Simon was so humiliated for forgetting his own bladder too. The gorge was only a straight path, there was no little places which one could hide in the corner, so Simon politely asked Betty to look away as he did his business a little further back.
After the very awkward scene, the two travellers walked a little further up the gorge (they didn't want to be near the pee) and sat down, unpacking the final scraps of the lunch they packed; one half a cheese sandwich, a banana, 1 random piece of bread that was most likely packed by accident, a quarter of a can of beans with a spoon in it and a squished tangerine. They also had half a flask of water left between them.
"How about I put the beans on the bread and make a half sandwich for myself, and you have the cheese sandwich? Then we can have one fruit each, whichever you prefer" Suggested Betty. As you may have noticed, Betty was the more confident speaker of the two.
Simon was quite happy with this idea and he took a banana. Betty decided to save her tangerine for tomorrow, and drank as little water as she could without feeling discomfort. They were stupid and didn't bring water purifiers, so they only had the stocks of water that they brang from their homes.
After they'd finished eating it was dark and the sun had now fully set. And the pair were both exhausted.
"Let's set up camp" Simon pleaded. Betty was too tired to answer, but she gave him a look of approval. So Simon pulled the camping gear out of his bulging backpack and hammered the nails into the ground and lay the mats and pillows out in both of their tents. The temperature was rapidly dropping, as one might know that the nights of Ooo get pretty cold at this time of year. There was no wood in the narrow gorge, so they couldn't get any to make a fire. The two crept into their tents, snuggled their huge backpacks into the corner and tried to fall asleep. They had no blankets, theyre just too big for backpacks, so they wrapped themselves in their thin coats. Betty was more accustomed to the cold and so she started to drift off but Simon could not. He was so cold (and he hated the cold) and tired that he didn't properly think about what he was doing, it just kindof naturally happened. He tiptoed into Betty's tent and snuggled up into the heat of her body.
"Ooh" he whispered, finally warm enough to sleep.
"Mmh" groaned Betty, but not in a bad way, in that way when you're so sleepy that you can't open your mouth. Half asleep, she wrapped her arm around his body and finally dropped.
.
Simon shot up to the sound of a hawk shrieking overhead them. Betty's arms were tightly clutched onto him. As he realised the scene, he tried to cover his pink face (even though Betty wasn't awake to see it) and he didn't have the heart to wake her up- but if he didn't then they'd feel even hungrier once he finally set off again.
He silently slipped out of her arms (a real struggle that was) and put as much stuff away as he could. When the only thing left that was Betty's tent, he nudged her
"Betty, wake up, we've got no time to loose" he whispered into her ear. Usually, this would not have waken Betty but the excitement of hearing Simon's voice made her rise.
"Doctor Petrikov! Oh- I'm so sorry to keep you waiting" and she packed away her tent. The pair had a little drink, and Betty ate her tangerine, throwing the skin on the floor for the ants to eat (there are no bins here, and the insects would appreciate the donation). She didn't remember what happened last night, but Simon did. An unmarried couple, infact in no sort of relationship, had spent the night snuggling up against eat other. Simon loved it, but was so embarrassed to admit it and he was unsure if Betty remembered it.
Simon was so lost in thought that the red haired lady (that's Betty) had noticed. "Are you alright Doctor Petrikov?" She asked with a side smile.
"Heh- yeah, sorry" Simon tried to recompose himself. For awhile, they said nothing. HE couldn't get himself to, not after last night.
So with the silence, they finally noticed the rumbling of their stomachs and the heat beating down from above. The gorge looked so long and-
"Pee break!" Squealed Betty. They did their usual and returned walking on again.
After what seemed like hours, their stomachs were killing them and they could finally see a sign of grass up ahead.
"Ooo!" Simon was so excited he almost forgot about not talking to Betty. They both walked their very fastest until they finally got out of the gorge onto open land. All that was out this far were a few villages. Simon pulled a few pennies out of his pocket;
"Only enough for some fruit" but it didn't matter because they were so hungry that fruit seemed like heaven to them. As quickly as possible, they found themselves at a food stand and purchased some green bananas (those are really good for hunger). No sooner were they already shoving it down their gobs.
"Let's get back now, we found the enchiridion after all!" Simon said pulling the book out his bag proudly. While doing so, the crown dropped out.
"Doctor Petrikov- the crown!"
"Oh haha, almost forgot about it" Simon rubbed the side of his face awkwardly and shoved the crown back in, though it didn't fully fit. The point of it was poking out the zip, and from the side of Betty's eye she could see it gleaming in the sunlight. She shivered- it gave her bad vibes.
Finally, Simon had forgotten all about not talking to Betty and they started their small talk once more as they walked on. Finally they came to the end of the final village- and the town was no further up. But in-between was an uninhabited grassy-land with a few trees scattered around.
"Shall we?" Simon looked at Betty, indicating they take a break under a tree. She nodded enthusiastically and they leant on the back of a thick tree-stump. After a long few days of adventure, they finally had a time to look at each other properly. Simon was a slender man with a bit of a belly, but no muscle. He had no defining body parts, probably one of the roundest people you will meet. His dark brown hair curled up a little at his ears (where it ended) and his 'water proof gear' was ripped and had stains on it, it obviously got soaked multiple times. His face had a youthful yet knowledgeable shine on it, and clean shaved. He had thin eyebrows and wide chestnut eyes. Above was his trademark thin-circular glasses. He hadn't much of a need for them, he COULD go without if he really wanted but he liked the style.
And this man was staring at Betty, a woman a few years older than him. She looked her age but had a smooth face (self-care routines) and had straight, dark brown hair which came a little under her shoulders. She had mezmarising big blue eyes, and thin eyebrows too, though slightly thicker than Simon's. She had a peach face (Simon's was more of a tan) and her adventure gear was in a terrible state too. The brambles caused most of the damage. Betty also had glasses, in the mid-thick range and they were a unique shape, more like rectangles that poked outwards. They were very big and had a sticking out black rim on each side of the lens.
After staring into each other's eyes admiring one another, a soft breeze blew across them and if by fate, they both leaned in for a kiss at the same time. Neither was sure how long it lasted, but it felt so natural. And now Simon wasn't embarassed anymore about what happened last night.
Treasuring their possible last day together, Betty told Simon tales that she'd heard when visiting other countries. He listened contently till the shadows grew long and the grass began to look not-so-green anymore. Betty finally got to the end of her current tale, and they both called it the day. Hand in hand, they walked towards the bustling city and were met with a huge crowd, and alot of paparazzi. When Simon held out the enchiridion, the crowd went wild and circled all around him. While he was caught up in the crowd, Betty slipped off silently back home. In her hand, one of Simon's ripped t-shirts. She knew he would've binned it anyways, but she wanted to keep it so that she could leave it at the library in the spot she always read at, so that if he spotted it he'd know it was her (they didn't have each other's contacts at this time you see).
.
When it grew dark and the crowd left for bed, Simon was left alone with the memories of Betty. He was miserable that he may never see her again, and went home sulking. But first, he went to visit the library to get a reading book, and there it was on an empty seat. His rag of a t-shirt.

[word count discluding extras: 2088]

[more book looking version here]