20 1st Lifetime: Being Orioles

"Absolutely not," Heith's voice was like a splash of cold water on everybody's heads.

Mai glanced at him, her expression cool. "And why not?"

Heith glared at her, "You're all children. How could we allow you to enter into the very group that wished for you all to be dead?"

"And that's exactly why you should let us go."

Staring at her with a resolute expression, Heith shook his head. "No."

"Think about it," Mai insisted. "They would never imagine for the very noble's kids they were about to kill to actually join the resistance! We'll be a tree hidden in the forest! No, a leaf!"

"But none of you-" Heith broke off when he focused on Mai, "I mean, most of you don't have the ability to protect yourselves."

"But they could learn!"

"In a few moments?"

"No! We'll have to stay in the village for a short amount of time in order to convince the people from the resistance that we really were kidnapped and are held hostage there. Then, we can switch with our body doubles after that week."

"A week? A week isn't enough time to teach a person how to fight."

"No, but it's enough time to get us used to some weapons that would be able to save us if we are in danger."

"None of your parents will approve."

"So?" Mai challenged. "They won't have to know as long as you don't tell them, Heith. In fact, just tell them that we truly are kidnapped. You have to trick those closest to you to be able to trick those far."

"I don't approve."

"But we do," Nicholas stepped out, his face firm. "We think that Maria's right. We want to do everything we can- us nobles have to do what we think is best for the country. And considering the massive amount of bloodshed that will occur if society received a massive upheaval, I think it's safe to say that this is the best possible route."

"No." Heith crossed his arms, glaring at the children before him. "I know you feel invincible at your age, but you are neither indivisible nor are you invincible."

Mai quickly thought of something. "Then if I can beat you in a fight, Heith, let me and the others continue on with this plan."

Heith chuckled and raised and eyebrow. "Why do you sound so confident, m'lady?"

Mai scoffed. "I was tired before and that's why I wasn't able to defeat those men" Plus, she wasn't used to this body yet, "But I feel better now, and I'm confident that I can defeat you."

"Let's see about that."

"I hope you don't regret this, Heith," Mai gave him a sweet smile. It was Heith's turn to scoff as they squared off.

........

"You didn't have to aim for my eye, you know," Heith complained as he touched the dark purple bruise on his face.

Mai shot him an amused grin. "You didn't even last 10 seconds, Heith."

Heith sighed. Turning to look at Mai, his inquisitive eyes made her uncomfortable. "How is it that you're able to fight men three times your size and even defeat me, Maria? I don't believe that this is possible."

Shrugging, Mai kept an expressionless face. She didn't know if this had to do with the voice, but she was grateful either way. Her expression showed a touch of sorrow, but she quickly smoothened out her features.

"So, does this mean we're going with the second plan?" Ivan said, holding up his hand. Victoria hit the back of his head. "What?" Ivan turned to her, rubbing his injury. "It's a legitimate question!"

"It's because you're stupid," Victoria said.

"Only two of you can go," Heith declared, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"That's no fair!" Gabriel said.

With a stern expression, Heith turned to look at Gabriel. A silly smile spread across his face, yet resoluteness could be seen from his posture. "Fair."

"You can be such an *ss, Heith," Victoria said, her voice sharp.

Heith disgustingly giggled and swept into a bow. "'Tis a pleasure, m'lady."

"Then who will go?" Mai raised the question, abruptly stopping the 24-year old's fun. His eyes drilled into Mai, and he lost his act of being easy-going.

"You, of course," Heith pointed at Mai. Mai wasn't surprised. However, when Heith's eyes locked onto Nicholas', Mai's eyebrows raised. "And him."

Nicholas had an amused smile on his face. "And why do you think I want to go? Shouldn't it be Gabe instead of me?"

"You're better at combat," Heith replied, his eyes seeming as if they could pierce into Nicholas' well-developed disguise.

"What?" Nicholas scoffed, "I've never learned to fight in my life!"

Mai, tired of this back and forth, attacked the boy from behind. He swiftly counterattacked, ducking low and sweeping out his foot to whiz through Mai's feet. She sidestepped out of his reach, managing to avoid falling down on her bottom.

"You call this 'never learned to fight in my life?" Mai cocked an eyebrow. Nicholas furrowed his eyebrows in guilt.

"The rest of you will stay at the village as planned," Heith continued despite the groans and evil eyes the young children were sending him. "After all, this isn't a decision that youngsters like yourselves can make."

"We're soon-to-be adults, Heith," Victoria commented. "We can make our own decisions." There was a general consent among the children while Heith ruefully smiled.

"That's what I had thought," he said, his voice too low for all to hear. As if awakening from his reverie, Heith clapped his hands. "That's that," he said, "Let's go to our original location: the village."

.....

Since all of the horses were released and none had returned, Heith and the children had no other choice but to walk their way to the village- an hour long ride had turned out to be a four-day trip. It would have been a two-day trip, however the children (excluding Mai) weren't able to keep up.

When they finally set their sights on the quiet village, it was not just them that were elated, but also the village chief who was desperately waiting for the supplies.

"I am so happy to see you," the village's witch doctor cum village chief bounded his way to the children. "Have you brought the herbs?" His hopeful eyes caused Mai to blush in embarrassment. They were going to wreck upon the village's hospitality without so much as a gift in return.

Heith slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, we left the supplies back in the city." The witch doctor's hopeful face slowly turned into one of anguish. He turned without another look at the foreigners, making his way to the tent that housed the sick.

"Chief!" Heith jogged to the man, his tone pleading. "Please hear us out!"

The man's face did not change as he resolutely walked towards the sick tent. It was Heith's next words that made him pause.

"We'll bring double the supplies if you help us this time!" He pleaded, making an anxious expression.

Mai found it odd. She turned to Nicholas and grabbed his sleeves, tugging to convey her silent question. He noticed and turned to look at her with a profound look in his eyes. "What?" Mai mouthed the word.

Nicholas shook his head quickly- he'll tell her later. Mai accepted this and continued to look at the pleading Heith and the stoic village chief. The village chief shook his head and entered his tent while Heith acted like a clingy shadow, following after the chief's footsteps.

It took three minutes for the village chief to break down, promising that he would be willing to assist them in their plan. Heith had came out of the hut with a dashing grin on his face and a swagger in his step.

"You see?" Heith proudly said, "I'm reliable."

The children shared glances at each other, goosebumps covering their arms at Heith's display. "Where's Fredrich and Kaleb?" Mai timely asked.

Heith swept a glance at Mai and sighed, "You always ruin my fun." Mai stuck her tongue out a him and Heith sighed once more. "I left Fredrich and Kaleb back at the city. I'll take one of the village's horses to bring them back, while you guys stay here and acquaint yourselves. Once I come back, I'll go ahead and act like one of the mercenaries and wait at the spot that they're supposed to be at to contact the Resistance."

"The Resistance?"

"The group that Fredrich and Kaleb are a part of."

Mai nodded in understanding. "So what will you tell them?"

"Of course I'll tell them that we've captured you all," Heith grinned, "And that I've got you cooped up in this village."

"You realize that they'll probably send people to check on us," Mai spread her hands out, "We can't have the body doubles replace us then."

"But that's perfect," Heith nodded his head, "This way, I'll have enough time to report to your parents, Maria. And also report to the rest of the parents." He pauses and almost like an afterthought, "I'll also be able to bring the body double for Maria and Nicholas as well as another guard." He glanced ruefully at the children. "You didn't think that the body doubles would magically appear, did you?"

Mai's face darkened as she noticed Heith taking light of her. 'Of course not, stupid,' Mai thought, 'If you could think of it, then of course I would be able to as well.'

Heith laughed at Mai. Ruffling her hair, he turned to the other children. "Well, I'll be off. I need to hurry and bring the true hostages here."

The children watched him leave.

............

After Heith had left, the children were brought to two different huts- one for the boys and the other for the girls. After getting as comfortable as they could on the hard mats, the only one who could quickly fall asleep is Mai; the mat had a comforting smell, almost like the smell of her bed in the Bu Hai village. The other children tossed and turned until the morning when Heith had arrived with Fredrich and Kaleb in tow.

The children were still badly injured.

"Do you think they'll survive?" Mai coolly observed.

Heith offhandedly waved his hand. "Psh, yeah. I broke their bones cleanly." He kicked at Kaleb's leg and Kaleb groaned. "Now then," Heith looked at the children, "I'll teach you guys a few moves before I leave to contact the households. You need to practice it at night. Especially you two," He pointed at Mai and Nicholas, "Understood?"

Everybody nodded.

A smile spread on Heith's face. "Good."

Leading them to an inconspicuous location, Heith did just that- taught them the basic of the basics. When the sun slowly set, Heith bade the children farewell. Mai, however, stopped him and led him away from the others.

"What is it, Maria?"

"I need you to do something for me." She looked around with sharp eyes before she leaned in to Heith's ear. His eyes lit up after Mai's words.

"Leave it to me," Heith nodded, a mischievous smile on his face.

"I will."

Turning to leave at that second, everybody waved Heith goodbye. Since it was already the third day since they were supposedly kidnapped, the people of the Revolution had most likely sent somebody to see if they were truly hostages. The kids hurried over to their positions, acting like scared little nobles.

Mai, on the other hand, pretended to be critically injured and stayed in the tent, practicing her moves.

............

It took a full week for Heith to return. By that time, the children were used to their roles as "hostages" and had gone into a comfortable rhythm of life. Although there were still surprises, such as when Victoria had screamed as a bug crawled up her leg or when Ivan slipped and fell into a pile of manure.

Heith had brought the supplies, the body doubles for Mai and Nicholas, and another guard to watch over the children. It took a week after he arrived before he was sure that the individual from the Revolution had grown bored with his watch. That was the time that Heith switched Mai and Nicholas with their body doubles, and had them bid the other children farewell.

The three of them traveled to the town that was the second closest to the village as Mai and Nicholas read the respective papers that Heith had brought them.

......

"Bye, Heith," Mai said, coolly waving her arm.

Heith ruefully smiled. "What do you mean 'bye'? I'm just going to be hiding in the shadows while I watch you two."

"Bye, Heith!" Nicholas pointedly said.

"Don't forget to wear your disguises!" Heith warned before he jumped out of their sight.

When Mai and Nicholas arrived at the town, the hustle and bustle of the town surprised them- they had become used to the quietness of the village.

"Where should we go first, Maria?" Nicholas asked, running his hands through his dyed blonde hair.

"You mean Margaret," Mai pointedly said.

"Yes, Margaret."

"We need to find a place to stay for the night. From there, we can go ahead and search for clues about the Revolution from the general populace."

Nicholas dodged a man who had tried to run into him as he walked a few steps behind Mai. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Beer."

"What?" Nicholas stopped.

Mai sighed and turned to him. "Wherever there's alcohol, there is gossip," she declared. "Wherever there's gossip, there's a bard. Let's go!"

Nodding, Nicholas following Mai back to their first destination: a run-down inn.

Nicholas stopped her. "Why are we staying here?"

"Because we're poor people. Now come on!" She led Nicholas inside, smiling at the inhabitants inside. Mai walked towards the innkeeper.

"What can I do for you?" The innkeeper asked, his voice betraying the boredom that he felt.

"I would like two rooms, please," Mai politely said.

The innkeeper grunted and held out two fingers lazily. Mai handed him two silvers and the innkeeper handed her two keys in return.

"Let's go," Mai said, gesturing to Nicholas. Nicholas nodded.

They walked towards the second floor of the inn before they reached their doors. Handing Nicholas his key, Mai entered hers right afterwards. Falling to the bed, she slept. It would be a long day tomorrow.

.......

The sun peeped through the curtain of Mai's room, and she squinted, covering her eyes with her hands. There was a knock on the door. Groaning, Mai stood, sure that the person knocking was Nicholas.

"What?" Mai asked, yanking the door open.

A petite face stared back at her, surprise and fear on her face. "I-I'm sorry," the girl said, "I-I-I got the wrong room."

Mai glanced down at the girl and smiled. "Don't worry about it." She closed the door.

"W-w-wait!" The girl called out, sticking her foot into the door. "Why don't we go eat b-b-breakfast!"

Mai looked at the girl. Although Mai had nothing but a cool demeanor on the outside, inwardly, Mai couldn't help but grow suspicious. 'Who was this girl?' She thought.