Chapter Three: Geopiterra Woods

“Ouch! That hurts! Why did you push me down?! I almost broke my ankle!" Vivienne scoffed with her hands on her waist. She's throwing dagger stares at Archer who seems to be amused by the young princess' rant.

”Ohh, look at you and you're adorable hawk eyes. You can't really scare me by just standing there, hands on your waist and absolutely doing nothing but stare at me like that," Archer sarcastically commented.

Vivienne's blood instantly boiled, making her erupt in anger. “You're so rude! How can you talk to a princess with that kind of attitude?!" Vivienne screamed in rage. Her hand formed into a fist as she started throwing punches at Archer's knee. On the other hand, Archer is quite enjoying the view of how the princess went berserk.

”Alright, that's enough. You're just hurting your delicate fist. Go and break that rock over there with a single blow and I'll let you hit me on the face," he snickered.

“I can't believe my mother told me to find someone like you! You should treat me well!" she demanded with the utmost authority she has.

Archer sarcastically chuckled and scoffed. ”Give me reasons why I should treat you well, Princess of Grilux. I don't babysit caterpillars and would certainly not tolerate that gabby mouth of yours, might as well turn you mute any moment from now."

“You called me caterpillar just now, didn't you?!" Vivienne gasped in disbelief at the huntsman's atrocious remark. Never did anyone call her names, this is the very first time someone did.

”Yes. I'm so damn sure I did," Archer reiterated.

“That's it! I'm going to leave you for good! Let's get going, Marcellus!" Vivienne announced.

”Good luck! Do send my greetings to the lions when you get to see them face-to-face. I doubt if you can make it out alive," Archer mused, uninterested and bored. Vivienne chose to ignore Archer because of the humiliation he had inflicted upon her.

Taking a step forward to leave the place, Vivienne was taken aback when she heard a spine-chilling growl. “Did I mention the wolves roaming around the woods? There, you heard one of them," Archer added.

”Stop threatening me, will you?! I can beat them!" the fazed princess declared, trying to look resilient when she's horror-struck inside. Just when she was about to untie Marcellus' lead, another set growl echoed in the woods. This time, it was a deafening one.

“And that's a pack of wolves. I suppose your royal flesh is enough to satisfy their great hunger. Now tell me, kid, can you still kick their ass?” Archer reckoned while sharpening the blade of his dagger.

Vivienne paused for a minute, thinking about Archer's statement and the threat she might encounter. She hates to admit it but the huntsman has a point, roaming in the woods is dangerous. After giving a tap on Marcellus' back, Vivienne marched towards Archer with an upset face. She stood in front of him but Archer is way taller compared to her, she looks so small next to him. The bored huntsman showed no interest in entertaining the young princess so, he kept his eyes locked in his dagger.

“I want to sleep," Vivienne mumbled. She would rather have a good sleep rather than argue with the rude huntsman.

”G'on, the ground is quite wide to accommodate a skin and bone like you," Archer mumbled without throwing a look on her.

“Are you really that rude? You should learn to talk nicely, I'm a princess!" Vivienne belted with hands on her tiny and delicate waist. Archer scanned her from head to toe, examining every inch of the young princess' physique.

”Are you really that loud every fucking time? You look like my pinky finger, so thin and tiny. See that tall mountain over there?" Archer scoffed while pointing at the misty and dark mountain probably hundreds of kilometers away from them.

Vivienne frowned. “What about it?” she posed a question.

“That's how high your attitude is,” Archer reckoned with his eyes fixed on his blade. Naturally, he should shut the princess out but Vivienne would always have her way to steal Archer's focus and make him speak more than what he ought to say.

“What a blasphemous remark! You keep talking ill of me! Why am I even stuck here with you?! Let's go on separate ways the moment we get out from this mountain!" Vivienne shrieked with her piercing hazel eyes. Marching to the small creek to wash the hem of her nearly worn out gown, Vivienne stared at the water which reflects the round shape of the moon.

”What could give me the peace of mind I desperately long to feel aside from the moon and the stars' soothing effect on me?" Vivienne thought.

When she turned around to get back on the spot she was laying, an arrow passed on the crook of her neck and hit the tree, five feet from her. Vivienne stood frozen and unmoving because of terror, the arrow nearly took her life.

“I... I almost died," she grumbled. Archer didn't spare a second to pay attention to her, he just made his way to the tree and pulled the arrow instead. ”I said I almost died, Archer," she reiterated.

“And?” Archer showed disinterest in the young princess because his attention is locked on the letter written on a small piece of paper attached to the arrow.

“Did someone do that on purpose just to send you a message?” Vivienne asked, trying not to lose her temper again.

“Hmm...” That was the only thing she heard from Archer. Infuriated by the huntsman's ill-manners, Vivienne rushed towards him and grabbed the letter.

“Give me the letter, Aurelie. Don't make me repeat it twice or you won't like what happens next," Archer warned her with a scowling pair of pitch-black orbs.

”No. I'm going to tear this into pieces!" she wailed. Just when Vivienne was about to tear the letter into pieces, Archer suddenly pushed her away.

As soon as her back landed on the ground, she immediately heard a hell-raising cuss from Archer. “FUCK!"

A wolf attacked and it's on top of Archer now, trying to bite him. The horn-mad huntsman strangled the wolf, preventing it from causing him any scratch.

”Grab my sword!“ Archer howled while fighting off with the huge wolf. Vivienne scanned the surroundings to find Archer's sword. When she saw Archer's blade stuck between the stones he was sitting on, she hurriedly sprinted to get it.

”Here, take it!" she screeched before tossing the sword on Archer's reach. Vivienne thought luck will be on their side but thought otherwise when another wolf suddenly came out from the woods and attacked Archer.

“Hide if you want to preserve your fragile life!" Archer yelled and that was Vivienne's cue, she ran as fast as she could and hid on the huge stone.

”What should I do?“ Vivienne is holding her breath and trying hard not to cry because of fear. She had enough threats since the day their kingdom fall and she can't hold the pressure of just relying on herself to survive the jungle of unending dangers.

Minutes had passed and she's still hiding in the same spot but was alarmed when she heard footsteps like something or someone is coming her way. She started trembling as she hid herself more and moments later, the footstep stopped and the place became silent again. Vivienne wanted to examine the surrounding so she tried looking around.

”Looking for someone, princess?" Archer, with his face covered in blood, came out of nowhere and scared Vivienne.

“You startled me! I know you did that on purpose, you blood-bathing huntsman!” Vivienne cried out before pushing Archer away.

“Let's get moving,” Archer grumbled, ignoring Vivienne's rant. Vivienne quickly got up and fixed her corset but her eyes are settled on the pack of wolves lying on the ground.

“Are they dead? Did you kill all of them?" she asked.

”Who else would do that if not me? It can't be you, right?“ Archer retorted as he started marching to get the horses.

”Where are we going?“ Vivienne asked once again but didn't get any response from Archer. He gave her Marcellus' lead instead and cleaned his sword with his cloak. ”Well? Aren't you going to say something?" she posed a question over again.

“We're heading to Geopiterra,” Archer countered. Vivienne's eyes widened as if they're going to pop out at any moment, she's stunned and anxious.

“No. We're not going there!" Vivienne disagreed. She can't possibly unveil herself to the people knowing was kind of threats she will face.

”Yes, we are. We're going to attend the ball tomorrow night and if you'll just keep on fussing then I'll leave you behind.“ Those we're Archer's words before heading to the north.

”You can't leave me here! I'm coming with you!" Vivienne doesn't wish to go with the egocentric hunter but she has to. After all, clinging to him is the only way to keep her alive.