Chapter 5 - consequences

Everything hit the ceiling as soon as the sun came up. Toby found himself rudely awakened for the third day in a row, this time by hearing people yelling. He acted quickly once again, getting up and grabbing his sword before running outside. Outside the air felt off. Instead of the nice, calming atmosphere of his nation it was replaced with a hostile and tense one.

"You!" Daniel seethed pointing at Toby as he walked up to Caleb's side. 

Caleb, Toby and Maya were standing opposite Daniel, Ethan and Wyatt. All three of the enemies looked pissed off and their attention was solely on Toby who began to fidget nervously. Caleb must've noticed his distress as he protectively took a step in front of him. It calmed Toby down slightly but he was still on edge.

"You better hand that little pest over Caleb. He's committed a crime!" Daniel yelled anger seeping from every pore. 

Luckily his attention was now off Toby who glanced behind him towards Leo's house. He noticed Leo was watching and prayed he stayed in there. Toby knew Leo would come out swearing and yelling which wouldn't help the situation in any way.

"I have no clue what you're on about Daniel. Watch your tone talking to my vice president" Caleb was calm and collected when answering Daniel which seemed to piss the enemies off even further. 

This was definitely not all about the trashed storage building but it also involved the fact the two nations were currently at war. Any chance Rika got to increase it's advantage, they would take it. Getting Toby and Leo thrown into their prison would distract Caleb and would be easy leverage.

"If you really don't know, you're incompetent. He-" Daniel lifted his sword to prod it viciously towards Toby "-broke into one of our storage buildings last night and damaged a lot of valuable things" Toby was grateful that Daniel didn't seem to think Leo was involved, maybe because they only actually saw one of them last night, they assumed there was only one of them. It still wasn't a good situation but that made it slightly better.

"They did no such thing" Caleb lied through his teeth. 

If Toby didn't know better even he would be convinced, he wondered how Caleb could keep his composure as well as he did. However this wasn't the right answer Daniel wanted. Before Toby could even blink he had been grabbed by Wyatt who placed a dagger to his neck. The escalation of the situation took everyone by surprise and no one could react in time. Maya drew her sword, ready to fight for Toby's safety.

"Now let me ask you a question. Tobias, did you or did you not sneak into Rika last night and trash our weapon storage?" Daniel spat, sending a smirk towards Caleb, acting all smug because he was winning this altercation. 

Toby opened his mouth to say something but closed it again when he realised he had no idea what to say. He locked eyes with Caleb who was trying to reassure him with his eyes that everything would be alright. 

Toby knew Leo was about to barge in any minute, Toby was a weak spot for Leo. Of course the citizens of the nation were as well but Toby was different. Toby couldn't believe what he saw when Leo came barging out his house and barreled straight towards Daniel. Daniel was able to react fast enough to lift his sword up and block the incoming attack. Toby gulped as he felt Wyatt push the dagger closer to his neck.

"You bastard let him go!" Leo yelled, his teeth clenched tightly together showing how angry he was. Daniel just let out a bitter laugh, not impressed by Leo's display.

"I did it you idiot!" Leo yelled out. 

Wyatt immediately let Toby go, reaching forward to try and grab Leo instead. Toby got harshly shoved towards Caleb who didn't have enough time to catch him. He fell to his knees right in front of Caleb. Leo stopped fighting, dodging Wyatt and going to help Toby up. Maya came to his side to check him over for any injuries then helped Leo.

"So you're the rat then. I'm sure Jon will love to talk to you" Daniel said, a fake friendly tone in his voice. The sneer on his face saying something completely different, it almost made him look insane. 

Leo let a sigh out, letting Toby go knowing that he had only himself to blame for the situation. Toby watched as Leo shut his eyes and took a deep breath, he knew he was about to do something reckless. Leo's eyes flew open and he bolted. Daniel was the first to react. He began chasing after Leo who had already gained some distance. It took Wyatt and Ethan a second to process what just happened but once they did they were off, sprinting after Leo and Daniel.

"Run Leo run!" Toby shouted, adrenaline coursing through his blood. 

Caleb cursed to himself before yelling something at Maya, they were probably going to inform the others of what just happened and to find a way to help Leo out. Toby went to follow them, wanting to be involved until Caleb sent him a harsh glare.

"We're going to go figure out how to get Leo out of this shit. You are going to go back to your house and stay there" Caleb ordered, not sparing Toby a second glance as he walked into the town hall with Maya who sent Toby a fleeting apologetic look. Toby sighed loudly but begrudgingly made his way to his home. He can't believe he just essentially got grounded.

---

Rowan looked around the clearing she was in, curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to check up on the nearby nations. She couldn't get Skylar out of her head, she was sure she had met her before but she couldn't remember where. 

Rowan was distracted which wasn't good. Especially when she missed the sound of footsteps running towards her, she noticed but by then it was too late to hide well. Deciding that cover behind a tree and bushes was her best option. 

Right as she got behind the tree two Rika guards came running into the clearing. They were out of breath but Rika was too far away for them to run from there, they must've come from somewhere near Lamarie. 

They started to look around the clearing, it was almost like they were searching for something, or someone. As they made their way around the clearing, Rowan began moving so they wouldn't find her.

"He's coming your way!" A male voice shouted in the distance, close enough to hear it but far enough away to not be able to hear who it was. 

The sound of a bow being shot rang out throughout the forest. Rowan didn't have a lot of time to process what happened as a boy came crashing into the clearing. It took her a second to realise who it was, it was Leo and he had an arrow sticking out his shoulder. 

The two guards looked at each other before they began to make their way towards Leo. Rowan found herself stuck in a moral situation. She knew that the Rikans weren't about to help Leo and by the look of the injury he had, it could be life threatening if it wasn't treated properly. In a split second her mind was made up. 

Reaching for her sword and pulling her hood up so it covered her face she made a run for Leo. The two enemies were caught off guard, leaving enough time for Rowan to grab Leo and run. 

She headed towards the closest cave entrance. It didn't take long for the guards to realise what had just happened and they soon began to chase after them. Usually she'd be able to outrun them any day but with dragging an injured person, she knew it'd be a close call.

"Someone else is here!" One of the guards yelled as more footsteps joined in the chase. 

Rowan was lucky she knew this place so well as she weaves in and out of trees, she'd usually take the treetops jumping from branch to branch but for now the ground would have to do. Leo tried saying something but he was breathing too heavily. Rowan knew he was in bad shape and getting worse by the minute.

"Get back here!" someone yelled but this time Rowan knew who it was, Daniel was here. 

He was obviously the one leading this encounter and he probably was the one who shot Leo. Rowan couldn't lie and say she wasn't filled with adrenaline and she couldn't lie and say she hated it. It was an amazing feeling, it reminded her how fun this type of life was. 

She could see the cave entrance appear and she made a quick dive for it, dragging Leo in as well hoping none of the Rikans saw. They both stayed still for a second as they heard footsteps run past them. Rowan let go of the breath she was holding and took slow deep breaths as the adrenaline began to wear off.

"Where are you taking me?" Leo breathed out, wincing in pain.

"I'm taking you somewhere safe" She replied, helping Leo up as they began walking towards her home. 

Leo seemed to either accept her answer or he was just too tired to fight. The bleeding had finally stopped sometime during their escape but Rowan didn't know how long that'd last. 

Once they made it to her home, she swung the door open, it was a plain and simple small house. One side was a small kitchen, the other was where she slept, an armour stand being in the place the bedside table should be. She took Leo to the bed she would've slept Miles on. She'll sort out the fact that she may have more than one person staying with her later.

"I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt" she whispered before grabbing one end of the arrow and pulling it out. Leo groaned out in pain making her grimace. 

Rowan knew she needed to get the arrow out but hearing the young boy in pain made it hard for her to continue but she had to. Once the arrow was fully out she worked on closing the wound, hoping Leo would just pass out soon. 

She began to cauterize the wound, hoping it would stop the bleeding and prevent future infection. By the time she finished Leo was passed out and it didn't seem like he would be up anytime soon. 

Till he awoke Rowan could only speculate on why Rika was chasing down the young Lamarian. Had he pissed Daniel off? The two males were similar, both reckless and impulsive, their similarities were scary. Or had Leo taken it a step further and pissed off the devil himself and Jon had ordered the manhunt. 

Whatever it was Rowan was going crazy just sitting there and waiting. She wasn't the most patient person. Deciding to make herself useful she went up and grabbed what she needed to go hunting. If she was going to have to feed two guests for the foreseeable future she'd need more food. It was time to go hunting.