Just a Cocky Brat to Grow Up Strong

Senna was at the far end of the shelves, peering around each time Anton wasn't looking.
He wasn't sure if his father was controlling Anton too but if he was then why leave him behind?
If his plan was to kill him he could easily have done it this morning or before.
After a few moments of hiding he stepped out into the hallway, his sword in his hand but pointing at the floor.

He stood as a prince should, back straight and head held high....but you could see the uncertainty in his eyes.
"Anton...what am I supposed to do...father wants me dead. I don't understand what I did for such hatred."
 
The sound of the boy stepping out and speaking made Anton turn in his direction and walk up to him, stopping where the sword's point met the floor and he offered a sad smile,
"Some people don't need a reason to hate someone else. Though all I could guess from that note your mother left was that he never wanted you to start with..." He used the toe of his boot to push the sword aside and he came to stand properly in front of the prince,
"If you wish me to, I'll do everything I can to find out exactly what's going on and why. Surely there's more behind this than we already know and think." As much as Anton wanted to give the boy a comforting hug, he wasn't sure if it would be quite appropriate, or if Senna would even allow it.
 
The kid might not have minded it for a few seconds but now wasn't the time.
There was loud sounds coming from the door downstairs which meant the peasants had found it and were trying to force the door to give way.
"We...need to go for now.
He left you with me so I don't want you snooping around when he comes back with the other knights."
Reaching forward he grabbed Anton's left hand with his own and tugged lightly.
"I don't want to lose the last person who still cares about me, even if it is your job."

When he looked up again his eyes showed determination as he headed towards the exit doors down a small corridor, never letting go of the knight's hand.
"You know the way out through the secret passages?"
He hoped so because his father had never taught him which tunnel went where.
 
Oh it was so much more than his job, but Anton had promised himself he would never act on it whilst he still had a job to do. He followed the boy along as he too heard the noises of people trying to break through.
"Yes, I do." He then took lead, his hand never letting go of Senna's as he navigated his way almost skillfully through the corridors.

It took quite some time or at least felt like nearly an hour, they came out of the back side of the castle that faced a forest. Anton let out a sigh of relief before he finally released Senna's hand and walked a few paces in front of him, looking around for any danger. Thankfully, at least for now, there was none.
"We should be safe for a while." He assured, turning to look back at the boy.
 
The kid followed the knight a few steps away before turning back to his home.
Well, his previous home.
He could hear people screaming from the inside, angry about having lost the prince or calling dibs on his head.
Sure he knew some people hated his family but to just throw all the blame on the boy? He had never had control over what happened, that was all his father.
Why these people believe the lies that had been spread he didn't know.
However, he did have a bitter attitude and made that very outrightly obvious.

But now...now he had to survive outside the walls he'd grown up behind...
With a calming sigh he ran down the overgrown path, hopping over a small stream and balancing on a few rocks playfully before slipping and make a splash in the cold water, laughing quietly to himself before tossing his head back and giving a few chuckles.
He seemed to be a bit out of it, playing when there were dozens of people inside the giant building behind them wanting his head on a pike.
 
Whilst Senna ran off, Anton had turned to tend to the door, using everything he could - which was mostly sticks - to jam it up. That was when he noticed what looked to be like an old blacksmith hammer by the door. Why it was there he had absolutely no idea but was thankful for it as it would provide a stronger barrier that would be basically impossible to break through from the other side without somehow blowing the door off. He fixed it into place, using some old vines that were growing up the wall of the castle like a rope and tied it up to make sure it would stay there.

It wasn't until he heard the splash that he frowned and turned to look at the boy playing in the water. What on earth was he thinking?! There were people after him and all he could do was play around. Anton couldn't blame him. He'd barely had a proper childhood and neither of them could really figure out the reasoning behind all the goings on...
"You've only got that set of clothes, Senna. Please be careful because we can't go back inside and I don't know how long it'll be till we can get somewhere where the people don't want to kill you." Anton explained as he walked over, standing at the side of the water, shaking his head for a moment; he was still ever alert of their surroundings, unsure of what may lurk in the forest they seemed to be heading into.
 
Senna blinked and glanced over his shoulder at Anton.
He did have a point...and now the boy's butt was all wet from the cold water and it wasn't exactly summer out.
"Oh..."
Getting up he quickly looked back at his behind and frowned.
"I guess we should go, I don't know why I was even doing that."

Straightening his back he narrowed his eyes on the castle.
"They will regret this. I will straighten this problem out with father and then be back to teach them all a lesson!"
The kid seemed determined all of a sudden, his previous playfulness gone again.
"Let us go, Anton."
He started walking towards the forest...with no clue where it actually took them.
 
All Anton could do was let a soft chuckle escape his mouth at Senna's sudden realisation of his actions.
"You do realise that it's not their fault, Senna. They're acting on false information; that is, if it's your father that has told them to act as they are. Though it may not be my place to say exactly, if you stop acting like your father then you'd have a better chance of appeasing the people." He wasn't sure if Senna would understand, or listen, to what he was trying to say though, as he began to follow the boy into the forest, staying ever alert.

"Please don't wonder too far ahead. I haven't a clue what is out here. Very few people wonder through here and those that do aren't found for quite some time after; lost, or dead." Anton was mostly worried that Senna would get too annoyed with him and the boy would run off, which was not an ideal situation for either of them, so he didn't want to say or do anything that would cause that to happen.
 
The boy turned back with a confused and slightly disgruntled look.
"I was raised by my father. How could I not act like him??"
He didn't understand that he could just as easily be nice as mean.
We was starting to get a bit annoyed about all the talk with 'appeasing the people' and did in fact run ahead.
However, at Anton's warning he froze, a shiver running down his spine.
Another moment later and he was running back to his knight, grabbing his right arm as they walked.

"Father said the next kingdom was through this forest due south.
They don't fight with us but they don't support open trading so we probably wouldn't be recognized there."
The kid didn't seem too happy with those facts but he'd rather they be safe in some foreign place than dead.
 
Anton laughed softly as the boy had come running back to him.
"Well let us head there then, shall we? I'd rather you be safe than in anymore danger. Plus it should give us plenty of time to find out just what your Father was really planning and where he, and presumably your brother, have gone."

The man continued to walk casually, knowing that the peasants that had been after them wouldn't dare to go into the forest, whether they realised they were in there or not.
"Let me know when you get hungry. I'm sure there'd be some edible things in here. Animals, berries... What not."
 
The prince turned slightly but didn't stop walking so he kept up with his knight.
"A-animals?? I can't eat live animals!"
His face turned slightly green as he gave a pleading look up at Anton...then tripped over a log since he wasn't watching where he was going.
"Mmmmnn! I don't like this!"
Yeah, not the best time for a temper tantrum.
"They should all be bowing down to me, not trying to kill me because my father went crazy!!"
The kid got up with a handful of leaves and tossed them at a random tree, scaring a few bugs.

He really wanted to just give up and go home but that meant death right now.
So, he pulled himself together and grabbed Anton's hand before he stalked into the forest.
The trek to the next town would take at least a day and they might have been able to make it if the sky didn't look as if it was going to open up and pour torrents down on them at any second.

"I'm only holding your hand so you don't get lost."
 
As Anton watched Senna throw the leaves at a tree, he wondered what the boy had hoped to achieve, but he said nothing as he simply listened to what was said. For a while he stayed silent, even as Senna told him the reason as to why his hand was being held - Anton didn't mind. He took a glance up at the canopy, looking through the gaps in the leaves to see the darkening sky.

"It might be a smart idea to find somewhere to camp." Anton only spoke after about another hour or so of walking with his younger charge. The sky had darkened even more and he wasn't sure how long it would hold off for, or how much the tree tops would keep out.
"Or would you like to continue walking? You look like you could do with a break." He mused softly, though he didn't stop whilst he awaited the boy's answer.
 
The boy halted a moment and looked up at the sky.
Er...it was totally about to storm and he was afraid of lightning.
Perfect!
He was also pretty tired since he didn't usually have to go walking around up hills and stuff.
"Um...sure."
Looking around he managed to find a large tree with dug-out roots lifting above the brush.
They seemed pretty wide and actually made a decent canopy a few feet above the ground.
With a grin he pointed to it as if it was an amazing discovery and then dragged Anton towards it.
They both had to duck to get under the roots but once there it was actually not too bad...
Good thing too because the skies decided to open up right then and downpour.
 
Stumbling a little as he was tugged along, Anton knew it was futile to even bother objecting and quickly found himself tucked into what was basically the trunk and roots of a tree, huddled rather close to Senna. He looked out as the rain poured down and he just hoped that the roots would soak up any excess water before it could wash them out at any time if it got heavier.
"This is possibly going to be a long night." He murmured, though it was no doubt only early afternoon still. He hoped it would at least clear up for a little so he'd be able to go searching for food for them before it could start raining again, but for now Anton just had to wait and find out if nature would be kind enough to them. The lightning started to flash and thunder began to roll, leaving Anton in a relaxed state; unlike Senna, the older man enjoyed storms.
 
Yes, Anton loved storms but Senna...was literally shaking.
Though he would never admit it he was seriously terrified at the moment.
Each flash of lightning made him jump and even when he closed his eyes it still flashed through the lids.
"N-n-no p-problem..." He responded shakily.
The storm drowned out most of his whimpers but pretty soon he was in Anton's lap with the excuse that the place where he was sitting was getting wet from the rain.
Either way, this gave him the ability to bury his face in his knight's shirt to hide from the lightning flashes.
His hands were curled up in the fabric tightly to make sure he wasn't moved anywhere.
 
Rather surprised at the boy's actions, though not complaining, Anton could tell he was terrified. As he allowed Senna to basically cling to him, he gently wrapped his arms around the prince's back in a comforting hug-like manner.
"You don't need to be afraid, Senna," Anton spoke softly, though it was loud enough for the boy to hear him due to their close proximity of ear and mouth at the moment. Instead of saying that the storm wouldn't hurt the boy, Anton chose a different line in hopes that it would work in calming him down better,
"I won't let anything hurt you. The storm included." He moved one hand that rested on Senna's back to his hair, stroking it gently.
 
Senna was grumbling to himself mentally about the entire stupid day.
He wouldn't have been outside in this type of thing, ever!
Why he was now he just couldn't wrap his mind around.
At the claim of being afraid he quickly said he wasn't but it probably wasn't loud enough to be heard over the wind and rain.

The next comforting thing Anton said was probably spoken better than the first.
Along with the hug and extra slow stroking in his hair did actually calm the kid down.
"You never let anything hurt me..."

A loud book of thunder shook the ground beneath them as the storm picked up.
Yeah, water was definitely gonna start draining into where they were staying in a few minutes.
 
"It's my job to protect you." Anton chuckled softly before he then had to carefully set the boy aside after prying him off as he'd noticed the gradual build up of water outside on the ground. He could see they would get flooded by it. Chewing the inside of his lip in thought for a moment, he wasn't really sure what else he could do. Sure they could hide up on a tree branch, but there was also the likelihood in the tree itself getting struck by a bolt of lighting which would be an incredibly undesirable situation to be in.

"We need to find somewhere else. We'll get flooded out of here if it gets any heavier. Come on, quickly." Anton didn't wait for Senna's objection as he simply took the boy's hand and headed out into the rain, water sloshing around his boots already. They needed to move quickly, but at the same time Anton hadn't the foggiest idea as to where they could hide. Then he spotted what looked like some sort of moss covered cave not too far ahead; how he hadn't seen that earlier he wasn't sure but he was thankful for it now.

Moving nearly at a run, Anton had scooped the boy up partially over his shoulder, and came to the cave's entrance without too much trouble. He then set Senna down in front of him,
"Sorry about that." He mumbled, having doubted that the boy would have appreciated being picked up as such, but it had been a necessity and Anton would simply live with the boy's judgement on the matter - as he did with everything else.
 
The kid looked up at his knight in confusion was he was removed from his spot on his lap.
The explanation wasn't much help but when his hand was grabbed and he was pulled out into the storm he nearly froze.
His legs only moved every few strides and he was basically being dragged through the muck and rain.
Each lightning strike had the kid's nerves going haywire so when he was scooped up he didn't fight in the least.

Put down in the cave he bolted to the back as far away from the rain as possible before gasping in a breath of air he didn't know he needed.
Without paying much attention to what he was doing he pealed off his soaked clothing and laid them out on the floor shakily before curling up again.
Wet clothes would do nothing but freeze him so at least his brain was working on that part.
His eyes were glued to Anton now, hoping that this place was better and they wouldn't have to run through the rain again.
 
Anton let the boy do as he pleased as for a few more minutes he stood by the opening, watching the rain pour down. He then turned and smirked a little to himself, barely able to see two feet in front of him as he made his way to the back where he presumed Senna had run to. It was dark, a little cold, but at least it was dry. With nothing at hand to start a fire, Anton could do nothing but sit by the boy.

"Come here." Anton spoke, though all he could see was Senna's body's outline, "If you're cold, you're welcome to huddle up to me." His voice was gentle, and at least inside the cave the sounds of the storm seemed to be less loud.