GAMBIT

"Where have you been mate? It"s already past eight. Luckily the princess isn"t here, or else you"ll be done for." Halting Quartz"s stallion, Kingston decides to ask Quartz"s sudden appearance on such a late time.

"Had to run some errands." He replies, unmounting from his white stallion. Meanwhile, a scowl of malice, Endeavor stares to Kingston. It"s wings are raised, seemingly prepared to attack.

"Oh, this is Endeavor by the way. He"s a falcon." Quartz introduces, playing with Endeavor"s chin.

"Get out ya foul beast! I am Endeavor, and Quartz will not be left in vein." Endeavor starts to over react in its fighting posture, ready to glide and peck Kingston. Luckily, Quartz quickly calms his falcon, explaining Kingston is an ally rather than foe.

"I"m watching you..." Endeavor leans its head forward, squinting his eyes and mumbling at Kingston.

"Mate! You"ve finally arrived, what took you so long? Did you overlseep again?" Harold sees the young man, and decides to interrupt the conversation between him and Kingston.

"He said he needed to run some errands." Kingston explains, letting off a soft sigh.

"Oh my word, is that a bird ya got there?" Harold"s attention is then grabbed by Endeavor"s looks.

"Yes. This is Endeavor. Endeavor, this is Harold. He"s also an ally."

"An ally? Looks like a filthy sc.u.m to me..." With squinted eyes, Endeavor ponders at Harold"s apparel, observing his movement closely.

"It"s like a parrot! It can talk!" Harold beams with full exeburance.

"I beg your pardon?! I am not a parrot. I, myself, is a bird of prey." Endeavor corrects.

"Well parrots do talk afterall. Hey, can Endeavor sing as well?" Kingston queries.

"Oh... oh, perhaps it can do poetry!" Harold adds.

"Listen here ya rambunctious scamps, I am a bird of prey and not just a random beast who sings and recites poems for children." With a frustrated tone, Endeavor starts to become slightly aggressive, glaring at the two of them with its keen eyes.

"I"ve heard of talking parrots... I mean talking falcons before, but never have I met one personally. So, they truly exist." Uttering his words, Kingston decides to fiddle with the bird"s chin, however Endeavor responds by biting it.

"Ach! What was that for?!" Angrily, Kingston queries the bird"s unruly manner.

"I am not a toy to no one except for Quartz."

"Relax Endeavor, they"re just playing with you." Quartz calms, ma.s.saging the bird"s nape.

The three continued to talk to each other, and as they do, Endeavor learned to befriend them, lending its trust to Kingston and Harold. Although, Quartz"s new friend, or the self-proclaimed bird of prey still keeps a close eye on the both of them in case they plan to do something out of the blue such as betraying Quartz or hurting him which is most likely impossible to happen.

Being devoted to the young man, it is a falcon"s duty to protect and serve him, and at times, it could be overprotective, even hurting those who are close to their masters. As falcons of their motherland Sacchi, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their masters.

From their conversation that lasted about an hour wherein by now, they must be training, the princess, Jupiter Braveheart arrives back at the camp, riding her brown Stallion. Seeing the three of them, she decides to unmount from her horse with the looks of a distressed person.

"What are the three of you doing here? Shouldn"t you be training by now?" The princess questions.

"And who are you?" Endeavor queries with suspicion, pondering on the looks of the princess.

"Excuse me parrot, I am the princess of Pureheart therefore I have the upper authority in these grounds. You may protect Quartz from other dangers, but not from me." The princess talks back.

"Why does everyone call me a parrot?!" Endeavor starts to complain.

"Anyways, since the three of you are here, why don"t you help me?" The princess suggests.

"Help you? What is this time? A hungry pack of ogres are trying to destroy Sacchi?" Kingston takes the suggestion as a joke, letting of a chuckle.

"Not ogres, they"ve learned their lesson. It"s the spiders who are causing trouble in the east of Sacchi, at Carlsen Forest. I need the three of you to help me to take them down before they reproduce, crippling the food chain and ecosystem of the forest." The princess explains with seriousness.

"Spiders? You call that trouble? They could be easily defeated by a slap of the newspaper." Quartz utters.

"That"s what I thought at first, however I was proven wrong. The spiders that dwell within the forest of Carlsen are usually eight times the size of a regular spider. What"s worse is, most of them are venomous, spitting out their boiling hot poison to anyone who opposes them." Hearing Harold"s explanation, Quartz is left in a distressed manner, the same look of what the princess has. Little does he know, that the spiders of Sacchi are much superior than the Spiders of Earth. However, even with all the gruesome descriptions of the said species, Quartz, Harold, and Kingston concurred with Jupiter.