Sir Iwan froze as he saw the squires standing, three at a time would be in his field of vision but if and when he moved they would move along, always hiding the remaining members from his view.
That however was not the thing that gave him pause, what had given him pause was that they had taken the moment his attention had been on either Turg or Findling to arm themselves. ” I bet those do have bullets in them, SIR Iwan. ” He knew Findling was right, he kept the guns primed and ready, even though the regulations said he shouldn’t. A point of pride was that his fellows were ready at the drop of a hat. “Pride, comes before the fall.” Turg spoke from mere inches behind his head. “You are just like her, like Olga. But we are not proud, we know we are weak, we know we need to be smart.” A firing pin locked into the ready position. ” Give my second her bullets, and a knife for everyone, or you learn the same lesson. ” There was no malice in the boy’s voice, no intent to scare him or even threaten, Turg spoke as if he was reading out facts of a sheet. “I will, but after that Turg dear boy, you mut let me pick a gun for you, or better yet, let me make you one.” Sir Iwan was intrigued, he had not seen a group of unarmoured creatures coordinate like this before, not since his youth, not since they themselves had been children running through the streets of their hometown. Oleg had pulled a fast one on him, and he couldn’t wait to return the favor.
Sir Oleg casually sat at Olga’s bed, the bruises were already lessening, and the smile on her face spoke volumes. “So, still want to break their spirits to make them comply Olga? ” Her smile only widened. “Nyet old friend, they remind me too much of, how we used to be, and if Gwalcahad had never broken us we would be so glorious now, rules be damned no?” “Good effort, rules be damned indeed.” He remembered the old masters they served under so long ago, not least of all Gwalcahad, outwardly a saint to all, but in private with his squire,,. A shudder ran along his spine as anger briefly reared it’s head. ” We can not be our teachers Olga, we will teach our students, our way. Of course we will teach them the rules, but only so they know when they break them.” Olga chuckled. ” So vere are they now Oleg, you didn’t leave them without supervision, right?” This caused Sir Oleg to briefly frown before he simply replied: ” They are with Iwan, that should be supervision enough, don’t you think? ” Olga burst out in raucous laughter. ” Hah, pff poor Iwan, hah! Vat is your plan here old man?” Sir Oleg smiled, not because of his plan but because he just remembered how Iwan tended to be somewhat bad at keeping by the rules, especially concerning weapons storage.
Iwan awoke with a groan, his head pounding, he had no idea how long he had been out cold, or even how it had come to be. A cursorry look around his armoury however gave him a single piece of knowledge he had to face, a certainty he hated already. He had been out long enough for the children to empty out his stores. All the guns were missing, as were all the munitions. Well everything he had ready and not locked away, he consoled himself, right until he noticed one of the safe doors being ajar. Blood dripped down his face as he rose far to easily from his prone position. ” What in the world,,,why am I naked?!” Hurriedly he rushed to his chamber, the safe door forgotten. Those punks had took his armour!
“Iwan to Oleg, secure line, damn it all to, OLEG ANSWER ME!” But no answer came. his comm system was linked to his suit, of course. Meanwhile back in their bunk room Findling studied her weapon, specifically the magazine that came with it, it seemed longer than standard, like it took longer munitions, it was also less tall, but the width was the same, so they had spent some time looking for a bullet that fit, simple. Well if you consider knocking a large man out with a desk, and stealing all his stuff simple. Also the whole issue where there were locked safes that needed opening, how fortunate that he had a key in his suit. Handy was chuckling giddily at the whole thing, but then he had been the one to find the key, it was why they called him handy now, and everyone got to be happy on their naming day, so that was fine. ” Found one” Turg spoke up as he held out a box of the longer than standard bullets. ” Can’t read these letters yet, but the size seems right” Findling loaded the clip with the odd looking bullets. “Thank you first.” She said it casually, but the whole room went tense for a bit, before relaxing again.
Sir Iwan was calm now, he had donned his spare clothes and taken the time to asses his situation; 1 Unarmed children had outsmarted him, 2 The children had armed themselves, 3 They had knocked him out, despite being well able to kill him, and finally, 4 He had underestimated them and belittled them in a way his own teacher used to do to him, causing them to, 5 Take all his weapons.
“How am I going to get it all back, without getting shot?” He asked no one in particular, something he had become accustomed to during the hours working on his guns. As such he did not expect an answer, much less from a fellow knight. ” Have you considered asking politely? ” Dame Ceridwen leaned against the wall with a smirk, she wasn’t of his order, but she would often visit his workshop. “Are you serious?” Iwan frowned as Ceridwen pushed of the wall while nodding. ” Aye, deadly serious Iwan, ye must know that to be the best path before ye, or ye can lay siege to the barracks, and underestimate them again, Olga is in medbay over underestimating the kiddo’s. You, yer pride got hurt, go talk to them fairly.” She had a point, and Iwan hated it.
Raz Blackheart 