Not Your Average Once Upon a Time . . .

"Wow . . . she was . . . gorgeous . . . " Nikolaus mused, staring off into the crowd of dining knights and knights-to-be dazedly. Aiden rolled his eyes at his friend, snapping his fingers under a lifted bowl in order to warm the porridge in it. As he watched steam begin to lazily rise from it, he muttered, "Idiot. Figures . . ."

"Hey! She's the fairest maiden in all the land, never without a smile or a calming word," retorted Nikolaus, quoting one of the better-known bard songs about Princess Alwen. "Her smile outshines the stars, her step so delicate it ghosts across the ground . . . "

"Yeah, yeah. But I'll only say this once, and once only: there is no chance, be it on Gaia, in Heaven or Hell, that you will ever be able to be with her. She's the Elven Princess, jewel of the royal family and the kingdom, for crying out loud! She has a better chance of someone breaking through all the guards around her and getting - "

"KIDNAPPED!" Everyone in the mess looked around in confusion before the main door opening made it apparent who was yelling. "The Princess! Princess Alwen has been kidnapped!" cried the Knight Commander's Herald, his chest heaving as he struggled for breath. "All enlisted in the protection of the realm have been summoned to the Audience Chamber! Come, quickly!"

Aiden looked in annoyance at the back in front of him, head swimming unpleasantly as he noticed that the knight in front of him had been in the middle of practice when he was summoned. Turning to Nikolaus, he whispered, "Can you see anything?"

"Sh! The king is about to speak!" Nikolaus hissed back. All around, the little uneasy murmurings which had been going on ceased. Nikolaus stared intently at the scene in front of him, taking it all in.

The king cleared his throat, started to speak, and cleared his throat once again when all that camed out was a half-sob. "After the feast, Princess Alwen's chief lady in waiting went to retrieve her mistress. When she could not find her, she alerted the chief of staff, who came to myself. When I attempted to cast a spell to hone in on the necklace which denotes her as a princess of this realm, it led us to the Moonlight Hall observational window. When the events leading up to it ending up on the floor were played, it became apparent that our Princess Alwen was drugged and then taken." Disconcerted murmurs rumbled around the room for a short moment before the deathly silence prevailed once again. The king sat down on his throne, suddenly looking very old and weak. "Queen Ara has secluded herself in her rooms. She is sick with worry, and her daughters have been summoned to comfort her. As such, activity around her wing as well as above and below it is to be limited."

A cracked old voice spoke up. "Now it is my turn to speak," said the Royal Mage, shuffling forwards. She was ancient, her fingers gnarled almost beyond recognition. However, to any with a magical Sight who wished to use it near her, would be very nearly blinded by her magical power. "Groups of mages will be working around the clock in an effort to ascertain our Princess's whereabouts. Each group of knights dispatched will also have at least one full-fledged mage in their party." It was then that the Knight Commander, a burly man with a fine-trimmed, albeit greying, beard voiced the plans for the knights and knights in training.

"There will be long-term searchers whom will travel abroad until the Princess is found and those who will return back to the castle after a set number of days. For obvious reasons, none of the newer squires, nor any of the pages, will be on a long-term assignment." The glare which he sent out over the crowd dared any to moan at his decision. "Your quadrant commanders will relay the information to your barrack supervisors, who will post them. You meet place and time will also be on the sheet if applicable. Do not be late."

With that, the meeting ended. Nikolaus grabbed hold of Aiden's shirt, not certain if he would be able to find his vertically challenged friend again after the rush which followed the meeting's adjournment. "Let's go to the mage dorms. It's quieter," Aiden said. Nikolaus nodded.

Twenty minutes later, they were in the mage dormitory Aiden shared with several other boys. Nikolaus paced in front of a high, thin window, tossing the apple he had grabbed from the bowl Aiden kept by his bed from hand to hand. "You're going to run a hole through the floor. Also, I'm sure the girls downstairs are happy to hear your clodhoppers right above their heads," Aiden said drily. Nikolaus plopped down beside Aiden on his bed, lying partially on it. Before he spoke, he took a bite out of the ruby red apple.

"I'm too new," he said. Aiden looked at him in puzzlement. "I've been a squire for not even three months! There's no way that they'll let me go on one of the abroad teams," he clarified, scrutinizing his apple before he took another bite.

Aiden sighed before taking off his kid shoes, scooting back onto the bed before crossing his legs. "I won't be, either," he said glumly, tracing a circle in the rich red blanket covering his bed. Nikolaus looked at him in surprise, eyebrows shooting up until they nearly disappeared into his hair.

Aiden placed his elbows on his knees and cradled his face in his hands, looking down at his best friend glumly. "My Gift's too destructive for reconaissance, and a tad bit unpredictable during daylight hours. I've been barred from using it outside of the presence of a certified mage during daytime."

Nikolaus blinked in suprise before sitting up quickly, bumping his head smartly on the bunk above. Rubbing his head, he said, "They can't do that! There hasn't been a ban like that placed in years - centuries, even!" Aiden nodded ruefully.

A few minutes passed in silence, save for Nikolaus munching absentmindedly on his apple. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers smartly. "I've got it!" he cried. Aiden looked at him in wary curiousity, not even needing to prompt Nikolaus to explain. "We can go do it ourselves! We stayed during New Year, so we have some off time. They won't miss us, since we're just trainees - if anything they'll be happy to get rid of us for a fortnight!"

Aiden's mouth hung open as he digested what his friend was saying. "Are you MAD?!" he stuttered, taking Nikolaus's by the shoulders and shaking him. "We can't do this alone! Even if we were to find where she was, we wouldn't be able to get her! I thought you were crazy that time with dying the cows green, but this is just . . . just . . . insane!"

However, despite Aiden's protests, he was packed up and ready to depart with Nikolaus on a pair of horses by the time the sun was rising the next day.

Once the odd pair had left the outer walls of the city far behind, Aiden asked, "So. Where do we start in this [/i]ingenious[/i] plan of yours?" Nikolaus quirked his eyebrows.

"I thought you knew."

Aiden nearly fell off his horse. In any case, he drew the beast up abruptly, causing it to give a snort of annoyance. "WHAT? It's YOUR plan!" he exclaimed as his friend made his own horse circle the small mage.

"Well, when we were young you always knew where everyone in the village was. Why can't you do that now?"

Aiden rolled his eyes as he kneed his horse forwards into a slow pace. "That's different. I don't know her. To be able to do that I have to spend time with them to get accustomed to them. And even then, I only get glimpses and feelings of where they are. It isn't like a dot appears in my vision with the words 'OVER HERE' written on it," he explained sarcastically. Nikolaus suddenly appeared beside him, questions on his face. "I didn't tell you because it just didn't come up! Besides, it's annoying and embarrassing."

Nikolaus pondered this for a moment, head tilted to the side, before asking, "How?"

Aiden's hand came up to cover his face again. "Uuuuuuuug," he exhaled. Taking his hand away from his face, he stared straight ahead. "Whenever I even think about thinking about someone I know, it happens. The closer they are to me physically and emotionally, the clearer the reading. And I get little glimpses, but it's usually enough to understand." He paused for a moment before blowing a stray hair from his face. "So, for example, I suddenly think about my mother in the middle of the night because I hear something strange coming from somewhere. Suddenly I'm scarred for life because I thought about her while Amile was getting conceived."

Nikolaus looked at his friend in horror. "Wow," was all he managed to say. "Just, wow."

They travelled in relative silence for the next hour or so, until Nikolaus suddenly drew up his horse, gripping the reigns with a death grip. "Do you hear that?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he probed the thick forest in front of his with curious eyes.

"No, I don't, and even if I did hear something, I wouldn't go into those woods," replied Aiden, stopping his horse a few paces ahead. Both animals fidgeted nervously, pawing at the ground, chewing at the bit as their ears flicked backwards. The hair on the back of the young mage's neck stood up as he realized there was no bird song or other sounds of life coming from what, otherwise, looked like a perfectly suitable habitat.

Without a word, Nikolaus got off his horse, riding boots giving off a tiny sound as they hit the packed dirt. Aiden looked on in puzzlement - until, that is, the squire began to drift towards the woods in a daze.

"Nick - hey, Nick! Don't go in there!" But his warnings fell on deaf ears. The short male took his eyes off his friend for a split second while he dismounted. When he looked up, the forest lay there, silent as before, but Nikolaus was nowhere in sight.

((OOC: It isn't the forest that Alwen is in, just so you know - the RP won't be finishing that fast!))