Troubles

     Chapter One: The Running

     Sidon was running. She was always constantly running. She would stop occasionally for food and water, a restroom break, or to seize the opportunity of another stolen precious, but for any other reason was almost unreasonable to her.  The life of a bandit wasn’t great, or that safe, but it was preferable compared to her previous lifestyle. She had been many things, nice, grateful, modest, courteous, and admired even, but now she was only called many things. A damned scavenger, filthy peasant, ungrateful beggar, a retched bandit, and some things even worse that would make your stomach churn just hearing.

     Sidon had learned how to be cold and unforgiving from the bitter cold nights she spent freezing, how to be sneaky and unseen from the raccoons stealing small forget-me-nots from civilization, and patience from the vultures that were rarely only ever seen stealing away at their prize. She had learned how to use a bow from watching lessons given country side. She had learned how to shoot with it by practicing, something she still need a lot of. She could shoot from close range, a few feet at the most, but nothing farther. She was also equipt with a boot knife, a pistol, a knife holstered onto her belt, a medium sized rug sack, and an arrow carcaj. The rug sack was in tatters, but it served its purpose. Inside it held some disinfectant, some gauze strips, a box of band aids, a half emptied box of crackers, a loaf of bread just recently supplied, a well aged water bottle, a map, compass, a blanket which was on the verge of replacement, and a few rubies she had just recently stolen.

     Sidon sold the stolen goods on the black market. Other bandits and scavengers dared not try against Sidon, for she was a legend on the Black market. No one knew who she was for her name was always changing, for those who cared to know. One week she was Adina Fitz, another she was Kara Hinders, then the next week she was Gianni Limber. This week she was Janine Embers. She would never forget her birth name, the only thing she thanked her parents for.

    Where was she now? She replayed the past few days’ events and then remembered. Castle Creek, Brevard Kingdom. That’s where she was. The people of the lands only knew her by the rumors of her wild red hair flying through the woods, the rare flash of her emerald green eyes peeking out behind her overgrown bangs, or the last image they saw of her, pointing her bow at them and then releasing an arrow. She never killed. She would come close though. The ones who called her by real name, the ones that knew who her real identity was, were the ones the kingdom guards found the next morning in dark alleys crazed out of their mind.  

     She slowed her running down to a fast jog. She had heard a crack in the branches and a ruffle in the shrubs to her right. She pulled her bow out and loaded an arrow and pulled the string back slightly. She held her bow so tight her knuckles were turning extremely pale. She never liked conflict. The sound came from quite a distance away. It sounded like someone was in a hurry. “Now why would someone be…?” She jumped over a fallen log. “…running so fast?” she thought to herself. She lowered herself so she could slide under a stray branch when an arrow whizzed by her head. Startled, she tripped over herself and fell to her elbows and knees. She immediately rolled over and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She then twisted around towards the direction the arrow came from. No, it wasn’t an arrow. It was a dart. She looked into the startled eyes of her attacker so far away. She could make out every single detail of the girl, from her paled skin to her large, frightened eyes. The girls eyes were as frightened as she assumed hers were. Her bow was already up, the string beginning to be pulled back by her hand unconsciously. She was never good with distance shooting, but this time she would have to be. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She saw the girl standing there, not moving at all. Paralyzed. Sidon was still sitting awkwardly on the ground, her body twisted to aim at her attacker. She took a short, quick breath. She could hear nothing. She was about to steady her bow when she felt a dart rip through her clothes and puncture her in her back. She arched her back and let go of the arrow, loosing aim due to the sudden pain and movement. She fell on her back, not having any choice due to her awkward sitting position she already had been laying in. She cried out in agony from the pain. She couldn’t hear anything but her breath anymore. She felt the bow fall at her side. Her heart throbbed painfully in her ears. Was it a sleeping dart? She gasped for air. Was it a poison dart? It didn’t matter at the moment. What mattered was getting away. Was she, the most wanted person in all of the lands, really going to fall victim to a dart?

     She pushed herself up and gasped. The dart did more damage then she expected. She was beginning to lose feeling in her legs. She just needed to get air circulating into her body again, she tried to convince herself. She had lost her breath when she tripped, and needed to regain it, quick. She pulled the dart out of her back and held in a scream. She ignored the blood streaming from the back of her head and the needles pricking her legs. She grabbed her bow and reached for an arrow, then winced with the effort.

     “Drop your weapon!” A squad of guards fled around her. The one who had talked was the only one with a gun. The others had clubs. He aimed the gun towards her.

     “You wouldn’t dare shoot the eldest royal daughter of Kings Cross,” She gasped for air, “Sidon, would you?” She had dropped some arrows when she had tripped. She could see them out the corner of her eye. If she looked at them, she would give away what she was planning. All she needed was the slightest hesitation, and then she would strike.

     The guard with the gun studied her face to deem if she was telling the truth, then his eyes widened ever so slightly. Perfect. Before the guard had blinked twice, he stumbled backwards, his gun lost in the thick overgrown shrubs. She got up and pulled out the knife on her belt. She stumbled backwards into the forest, slashing at anyone who dared to come close. She felt a hand grab her left arm. She turned and kicked the person in his crotch and turned to start running. She was about ten feet away when she saw a wood plank fling out towards her head. She blinked and was out.