"It's getting darker, but yeah I can see... for the most part. Come on." Adlaide said quickly grabbing his hand and pulling him deeper into the trees. Above the other sounds she hadn't caught the sound of the twig breaking. Still holding the pole she had gathered they few other resources they had and had them tucked in the blankets under her arm.
"Come on, when I found water I also saw some caves. We can probably find somewhere decently safe in there." She lead him quickly, towards where she had the water. She glanced over her shoulder often, spotting tall figures moving past the pod fire. She ducked low as she moved, "Duck down, James. We might be lucky and not have been spotted yet." She was whispering now for very good reason. Her eyes flickered wildly about searching the darkness for branches which might be broken and give their presence away.
Out of habit she was biting her lip, nearly making it bleed. "Come on where almost there." She said, but was cut off as a horse galloped in front of their path. She stepped backwards still gripping James' hand. Her hands were shaking and her the pole was trembling in her hand. It would hardly make a effective weapon with her fear causing her to tremble so.

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James about froze in place himself. That was when he took his sister's hand gently in his, and then wriggled the pole from her grasp. WIth that, he moved himself before her. Seemed they'd been found, and this person staring them down likely was no friend.... However, the yelling from the pod seemed to be organized, highly so. Who were these people...?

It was then that the head honcho of the riders came up, speaking to them in a language that confused James. He didn't understand them whatsoever. Who on earth were these people?! The woman then turned to the other, spoke to them instead. "Get the spare horse, and get them on it. We ride for the castle."

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Adlaide's brows furrowed, she didn't quiet fully understand their speech but she did understands some bits. Maybe her book worm habits would indeed come to be more than a little helpful. She'd read one book about a scientist that had gone to a far off planet, most people had put him off as crazy but the dialect he had described in the book made her recognize some words. "James, I think it'd be best if we avoid conflict with these people." She whispered, the dialect was rough, edged with a sharp accent. "Besides, it won't do us any good if we end up even more hurt." She gripped his good arm, her eyes fixed on the leader of the group. "They might separate us if we struggle." She added as though trying to persuade herself it would be best not to try and fight them off.
She raised her voice then looking the leader square in the face. "Would you mind telling us where we are?" She asked, respectfully, but also firmly and with a bold toss of her head. Adlaide wasn't going to be seen as a terrified little being, though truthfully her feet were quaking in her boots.

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This had the leader of the pack's head snap towards the woman. It was obvious she understood her...but her eyes narrowed, she debating a few moments. Tongue clicked, and she soon spoke their own language. The accent was rough and sharp. "You there...where are you from?" she asked then. "That magic over there. Was it yours? Did you summon it? You do not look like us. What is it you want?"

James just stood tense as ever, his hand slowly letting the pole rest upon the ground. She was right... Confrontation would nto help them, but to hear this woman speak English? That was different...

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English, they spoke English? Adlaide blinked, that was convenient to some extent. "Where do we come from?" Adlaide took a moment to think through her reply. If they though they were very powerful they might be able to play off of that and earn some sort of respect. It was a risk, a very large one, but if they played it right perhaps it just might work. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "That magic is fire, and yes it is ours. We are from a far off planet, and we want nothing but to life peacefully here." Adlaide then added a few words of these stranger's language. She just hoped the words she spoke weren't entirely offensive. She'd basically said "Why should we answer to you?"
She gripped James' arm tighter stepping closer to him. She held her breath for a moment, and it was nice almost to not breath the harsh air. But soon her tired and aching muscles demanded she breath once more so she did. Adlaide tried her best to look authoritative, but being short didn't help her hardly any.
Most of the time she'd replied upon James authoritative figure to get her out of situations, she'd watched him enough to learn the basics, but she only hoped she hadn't completely failed.

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She'd done good. The fact that she had spoken the words had the woman sneering a bit. "Get them on the horse!" Definitely a bold move on Adlaide's part. Finally, someone came around with one of the spare horses, and offered to help them up on it. With James' broken arm....well, he wasn't getting on their by himself. That was just going to be impossible.

They'd be answering to the king soon enough for summoning the fireball to their world. Who knew what the sign meant, if it was an omen or not....

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(Sorry for all the spelling issues. My spell check turned back on.)

Adlaide waited till James was on the horse before clambering on, she refused the help but only because she was somewhat excited to be close to the animal. Sitting on it's back she glanced around. It made her feel quite tall. "We'll be fine." She murmured softly into the air, though she doubted that would actually be the case.
Going to a castle, and a king, made Adlaide think back to the research she had done when she'd been in school. It sounded like this planet played on the feudal system, which instantly made Adlaide more worried than ever. No one dared to challenge the king, unless they had the power to. That meant an enemy king, or perhaps a knight that had gained too much support.
Hopefully the king wouldn't think them as major threat. "Just act cool James. I think they might respect that. We have to be very careful now." She said quietly enough for only James ears to catch. She glanced about carefully examining the strange alien race. They looked similar to people, that was true enough, but their skin had a fairly blue tinge to it. They weren't ugly, rather they were almost nice to look at, that was if they didn't have such sneering faces. Adlaide returned her attention to her injured brother, brows furrowed low over her sharp eyes.

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(Nope, you're fine. XD I've been following pretty well. :) And you've been kind to put up with my short posts.)

"Act cool?" He murmured softly. "I don't think 'acting cool' will save us from whatever we're about to face..."

The lead woman barked a few orders, and the horses were soon off. The castle itself was a good ride away....several days if they remained at a steady walk. This woman though, she had the horse jump into a gallop, and the one that the siblings sat upon joined in on the race. It caused James to grit his teeth, he holding the reins tightly with his right hand. This wouldn't be a pleasant ride, he could tell that right away.

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She was about to reply when the horse hurdled itself into the race. The wind whipped past her face, stinging her cheeks and whipping her somewhat long auburn hair free from the braid she'd had it in. Though the destination wasn't one she was looking forward to facing, the ride was thrilling. If they weren't in a perilous situation she might have had a grin stretching across her face. But they were in a perilous situation so she just stared grimly into the wind.
She knew James was not enjoying the ride, but she loved the feel of the wind flowing past her. The sound of hooves pounding against the earth, the speed whistling in her ears. She nearly savored the moment, and it would be a good last memory for the most part if this was the end.
Quickly she forbade thoughts of despair and shook her head, clearing it and trying to think a way out of this. There had to be a way out. There always was.The space ship from earth, the pod from the spaceship, this planet from the pod... Her mind went racing away fast as the horse that was carrying them to quite possibly their demise.

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It'd be hard to tell... The ride lasted well into the night and on into the early hours of the morning. James could honestly feel his grip slipping, his mind having grown numb to the sensations about him. A broken bone was easy to deal with if cared for properly, but with it being jarred as it was, he felt sick to his stomach. Thankfully, the woman up ahead finally called for a break. Poor James about fell off the horse, earning some laughter from the strangers about them. That was, until they got a sharp glare from their leader. She finally threw her hood back, hair a strange, purple hue and eyes a piercing green.

"You there. Tell me what has happened to you." She was speaking directly to Adlaide at this point. Her brother was leaned against the horse, the beast, thankfully, tolerating it.

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Adlaide folded her arms over her chest, her eyes flickering darkly. James was in a lot of pain, and this women leader was getting on her nerves. She raised her chin and shook her head, looking at James. "You really want to know? Because some part of me tells me that no matter what I say you probably won't care except for to tell your leader and get good points. But if you sincerely would like to know who we are and how we got here, I might tell you. But that's only if you slow down next time we ride." Without waiting for a response Adlaide turned to James, keeping her hands busy with fixing the splint so that it might be a little more comfortable.
Adlaide was now bother terrified, angry and very annoyed. The combination of emotions toyed dangerously with her mind, she had to be careful with her words and actions she didn't want to get them into anymore trouble than they already were. James looked about ready to pass out she noticed as he leaned against the horse. She scratched the beast's soft hide as a thank you but kept her eyes on James to make sure he was alright and didn't flop over. She knew very well that wouldn't end very well, as she knew horses were rather skittish animals.

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Horses could be, yes, but this was also a completely different world, a new world in fact. These horses were extremely sturdy, and not like the skittish ones back on Earth. "You'll be telling me regardless. My riding will not slow down. And I will not explain myself to an Outlander with such terrible manners, and a horrid accent." With that, she stormed off. Perhaps if the Outlanders understood their rush, they'd realize that no injuries could stop them from getting to the king. If the male Outlander could not ride, she'd be glad to leave him here instead, or have one of her experienced riders be with him so he didn't fall off...and someone else be with the girl so she didn't run off.

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"My manners are bad? Hmmm." Adlaide growled slightly not looking at the leader, she rolled her eyes and continued scratching the horse. Adlaide was growing more tired each second, James had gotten to sleep some but she hadn't. She ran her hands through her hair trying to keep herself from falling asleep by braiding her hair into complicated knots.
She found the term Outlander nearly familiar, but from where she could not place. Perhaps her brain was finally falling into the exhausted state that her body was in.
She had to admit this experience was bringing her to find more respect for her brother. He was so good, and kind, he did so much for her. Adlaide's eyes fell towards the ground, she felt badly that she'd never really appreciated how much her brother did for her. "Thanks James." She murmured to her brother, she'd never realize how lucky she was to have him. He'd tried to help even when he couldn't with the broken arm. It made her wish she'd been a better sister in the past.

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"Hm? ... For what?" James was feeling a little better now that they were able to just rest and relax. It even looked like the scouts were setting up a sort of camp, if only for a couple hours. It was just enough to let the horses rest, and let a few of their people get some shut eye. They needed to get sleep... The question was, how long would it last? The flat terrain had been slowly turning into foothills for the mountains nearby. That was obviously where they were headed. That much was clear to him.

But, before he could say much more, another one of the scouts came over. This stranger was male and looked more like an elf from the folklore back on earth than he did human. "Water?" he offered kindly.

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"For everything." She murmured in reply, she glanced at the mountains just seeing them made her even more exhausted. She turned when one of the other scouts came over. Kindness didn't seem to be a thing with these people (or at least their leader) and Adlaide felt wary. She'd had water not too extremely long ago, if anyone needed water it would be James. "No thank you." Came her shallow reply.
Adlaide stepped away from where the horse was and sat down, her muscled were beginning to hut from riding the horse at such a speed. Her hands had stopped trembling at least, and her senses had grown sharp against the numb tiredness which was threatening to overwhelm her. As much as she longed to dip off into a deep sleep she didn't want to miss anything. If there was any hint as to what might happen to them, Adlaide wanted to be awake to hear it. Though she figured that since they knew she could understand some bits of their language they might be careful with what they said.
This caused her to frown slightly, so much for her ideas. It seemed they weren't working out very well at all.

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