He watched her face light up, and couldn't surpress the drunken chuckle that escaped him. He better stop before he did something stupid and wreck the mission. He attempted to focus, but focus never really did come. He could feel his stomach softly gurgling with the liquor and his brain buzzed more. God, what did he order again? His armor was heating up, and he could a growing temptation to just take it off for some relief. He dazedly watched her put her finished drink aside, and he looked over at his empty glass, eyes wandering to the bottle that was near it. His tounge lazily swiped in his mouth and he narrowed his eyes. The damn bartender poured a stronger liquor than what he had ordered. Least, that's what he thought he didn't order or did he?

Fucking hell, Dogboy was already screwing it up.

Taking in a deep breath, he slid off the stool rather slowly, looking over at her leaning onto the counter, giggling. Another chuckle rumbled from his throat and he couldn't help the intoxicated smile that made its' way onto his face. She asked where he had seen them and he almost asked, "Who?" but remembered his lie. He said he saw some of the Kings men. They were going to scare them. Remember that. He focused a little harder but her lopsided grin broke that focus once again and he was grinning himself. He started for the door, being cautious, taking one step at a time until he made it to the door. Looking back at her after hearing her compliment; he could feel his face heat up and he put a hand behind his neck sheepishly. "T-Thanks." he replied, leaning on the door a little too hard and pushing it open with his weight.

He stumbled out into the cold and for 3 seconds, he felt a shock of realization of his surroundings. Shuddering, he looked off to his right and attempted to figure out where the hell he had put his mare. A part of him questioned if he even had a mare, but it was quickly disregarded as stupid. Of course he had one. He trekked through the piling snow, his boots crunching down on the frozen ground. He missed the heat from his armor that had covered his body only moments ago. Stumbling forward, he saw two mares and recognized his by his coat. Eagerly, he threw it on and saw that the other mare had a blanket on that he also recognized. Did he have two horses? Huh.

Making his way back from where he had exited the tavern, he caught sight of Lia drunkenly walking in the wrong direction. "Lia!" he called out, running after her. Bad move as a drunk person. He tripped over his own two feet and fell face first into the snow, immediately getting up as the cold shocked him and dug into his bones. Taking his time to walk over to her, he realized he still was holding the blanket that he had taken off his (?) horse. "It's cold." he said, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "It stinks like horse but it'll keep you warm.." his slurred sentences were starting to take far too much effort. A shiver ran down his spine and he huddled close to her.

"T-The men...they were..th-th-there" he stammered, gently guiding her in what he thought was the right direction.

Oh, how'd he get behind her? Did he go the wrong way? Did... she go the wrong way? Hell, she didn't know where she was going..

Why was she out here again? There was a long moment of confusion, her eyes squinted as she stared at him without an ounce of comprehension on her face. She wanted to go back into the tavern, it was cold out here. She'd already paid for her room... Or did she? Oh, nothing was making sense now... Her head spun as she blinked a few times, trying to focus on him as she watched him turn towards her.

When he managed to faceplant in the snow, though, a loud, drunken laugh escaped from her, the princess snorting and cackling in a most unladylike manner as she doubled over. He recovered quickly enough but she didn't, still laughing almost hysterically as he made his way over to her, holding a blanket.

As he draped it around her shoulders, she grabbed it and pulled it tightly around herself with one hand, using the other to reach up and try to brush the snow off of his face. It was a rather poor attempt and she nearly poked the man in the eye. Distracted again by him saying that the blanket smelled like horse, she pressed it to her face with both hands, inhaling deeply and looking for the scent of horse he talked about. With another giggle, she looked up at him. "It smells... just like Anya," she said, referring to her own mare that stood just a few yards away. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other in an off-balanced way, staring up at him with a look in her eyes that said she was long gone. The woman wouldn't remember a second of this in the morning.

As she took a step towards where he was guiding her, she managed to lose her balance completely, her foot catching on the snow as she grabbed at Axel's arm for support to keep herself from going down completely. Yet another fit of giggles accompanied the clumsy move, as she tried to stand straight up again and follow him properly. "Can't wait to see the looks on their faces," she slurred, clearly still believing that they were going to scare some of the king's men even though she could hardly stand at the moment and the ability to speak coherently was rapidly fleeing her. As she looked up at him, his hair distracted her, and one hand reached up to run her fingers through it as a lopsided grin showed on her face again. "It's so... soft... how did you... make it diff'rent colors...?"

As she kept walking, eventually she just didn't feel good anymore. The realization came as the view of the snow-covered trees around her shifted slowly to a sickening blur of colors, the heavily intoxicated princess clinging to Axel's arm to keep herself upright and at least somewhat steady on her feet. It was somehow miserably cold and burning up at the same time... it was getting really, really hard to walk... She was starting to feel sick.

"Are... Almost there...?" she slurred, burying her face in Axel's sleeve to block out the spinning. It didn't help, it just muffled her voice and made her even harder to understand. "I'm... I don't feel good... 'm tired..."

Relieved that he managed to get the blanket on, he was caught off-guard as she reached her hand up to his face to brush off the snow that had gotten caught in his stubble. Unfortunately, she nearly took his eye in the process, but he didn't mind. He liked the way her hand felt against his face, it was soothing but not entirely delicate as he could feel the roughness that felt rather familiar. Looking down at his own hands, he could remember why. His hands had that near roughness to them, from all his sword fights and practices. "That's so badass...." he thought to himself, knowing he would have never guessed that she wielded a sword. Speaking of his hand, he could barely feel the appendage at this point yet concern for it never came.

He looked down at her, looking at her minty eyes and could see the look on her face, but in his drunken stupor, he could barely tell what the look on her face told him. He wanted to keep looking, but she suddenly took a tumble, dragging him with her. He stumbled and barely managed to catch himself along with her. Her giggling was making him smile at the foolish move, and he was chuckling along with her, smiling lopsidedly as he watched her stand up.

They continued walking and Axel wasn't even sure where they were going anymore, believing his own lie at this point. He was trying to search for the king's men when something out of his peripheral vision caught his attention. He looked over and saw her hand reaching up again, past his face, and into his hair. Her fingers ran in it and he exhaled deeply from his nose, groaning softly. "That...That's good..." he mumbled, feeling rather happy and somewhat loved at the touch. He could feel something wanting to rise but he pushed it back down, unsure of what it was.

She had asked him how he had made it different colors and he was mildly confused at the statement, until he realized she was talking about his hair. "Oh..it's nat'rul.." he stammer out, his teeth chattering and he shuddered, maybe the kings men weren't out here after all. She was clinging onto him rather heavily and he could feel his legs getting heavier with each step.

His head started to spin, the outside world became more and more gruesome to look at, and his stomach wreched. "Should...back..tavern..." he slurred, looking around for it. He couldn't even make out the tree behind him and he stopped, just as he felt her bury her face into his sleeve. She said something but even he couldn't pick it up and he held onto her tightly, worry springing up and making him feel even sicker. Even though they were just standing, he could feel himself rocking ever so slightly, unable to feel his extremities at this point. This was a bad idea.

He suddenly heard a crunching noise behind him, and his wolf ears sprang up from his head, and he heard a whoosing sound coming from directly behind him. His head snapped back to see what it was, and he could see a tail wagging behind him, rather uncontrollably. Oh..right..that. He sighed loudly in both relief and annoyance at himself, relaxing just a bit. "Tavern..warm..not outside." he slurred, trying to get her to walk back to the safety of the tavern. However, the crunching noise continued, but this time it was accompanied by a yell of "DOGBOY!" Axel nearly leapt out of his skin at the voice and a tall, figure rose out of the bushes.

Axel warily watched the stranger, although the name and the figure looked far too familiar. "Who....you?" he slurred and the hooded figure shook it's head in what seemed like a disappointed way. 5 other hooded figures stepped out from the bushes, each of various sizes and builds. Axel prepared himself by tensing and holding onto Lia protectively. Unfortunately, his head spun even faster and Axel could barely see anything anymore, staggering forward before it all turned into a blur before it darkened into nothing but pure black and Axel faceplanted into the snow, out cold.

Axel's thoughts were as clear as mud. He could barely make sense of what happened. He couldn't even tell if he was conscious or not. Deep into whatever fantasy fuckery he was in, he soon realized that he needed to wake up, still believing that he and Lia were still out in the snow. Oh god...he needed to get up now and get her to safety. He dragged the poor thing out in this awful cold and..and..

"EuGhHH" he moaned as consciousness gripped him, along with a wave of nauseousness and pain. His entire body felt so awful and he felt useless. Letting a whimper pass his chapped and dried out lips, he recognized the sound as his own wolf whimper. Did he shift? He attempted to move and another whimper escaped him. His breathing fast, he opened up his eyes and instantly regretted it. Light overwhelmed his pupils and what felt like, set them on fire.

Gritting his teeth, he braced himself and rolled over in agony, another wave of nausea threatening to bubble up further. Stopping and waiting for it to die down, his nose caught a familiar scent. It took him a few moments to realize that it was Lia and that she was still alive. Sighing in relief, a hoarse, "Lia..?" rumbled from his raspy throat and he pinched at his temples. Ever so slowly opening up his electric blue eyes, the sensitivity steadily went away as he recognized that they were in a tent. Confused, he caught sight of a person standing in front of said tent, almost like a guard.

His memory rushed to him in that instant and he let out a growl. Once more, his ears and tail made themselves known, along with his fangs. "I don't know who the hell you are, but I can fucking assure you-" Axel said before his threat was cut off with a bark of laughter. Grimacing as it led to his migraine to pound in his head like that of a blacksmith hammering metal, another whine and Axel attempted to cover both sets of ears. "She's not your owner Dogboy, don't need to kiss her ass and wear a collar." the guard said, his voice dripping with amusement. Axel gave him a blank stare, his comphrehension clearly being frostbitten. The man raised his eyebrows with a chuckle, and shook his head. "Here, I'll let you play puppy with your new owner." he teased before walking out and disappearing in the white death of outside.

Axel looked over at Lia, and the color slowly drained out of his face as he finally understood what was happening. His ears immediately fell to his head and he gave her his best apologetic look. "Please excuse my actions, m'lady-" he started, but was interrupted once more by the tent flap opening and a rather buff man coming inside. "Oh good, you're up." was all he said before advancing on Axel, who stood his ground and snarled. Axel expected some kind of lecture, but when he got slapped, his head felt like it exploded. Falling to his knees and gripping the sides of his head, he wailed in agony and gritted his teeth. Because of this, he failed to notice a rope being tied around his neck. The buff man gave the end of the rope to Lia, smirking oh so devilishly. "There we go. He's potty trained but dumb as fuck." and with that, the buff man stood at the beginning of the tent and watch like it was the most entertaining thing he's seen.

Axel felt like his brains would explode at that moment, gripping his head harshly as waves of pain suffocated him in that moment. Oh no. Oh hell no. Oh HELL no. He didn't deserve that, he got the damn princess didn't he? He was the one who was sent out to get her, because all the others couldn't grow a pair. Whilst he was attempting to control his agony, the guard, Goliath, rolled his eyes. Goliath fit him, being both tall and buff, he was a huge man. A fucking giant if you would. Having a messy haircut, he had almost orangish hair, the redhead was definitely a clear definition of the word 'asshole'.

Goliath was far too cocky most times, insisting that he could outbest any other. For the most part, that was true, he could run faster, eat more, and hit harder than the other rebels. The thing he lacked was agility, which Axel had plenty of. Goliath gave Lia a annoyed look as she demanded what was going on. He barked out a sarcastic laugh and merely shoved her back onto the cot.

As Axel watched, something snapped. He wasn't sure what the hell it was, but it threw him in a rage. He and Goliath already had beef with one another, but this was past that, this was far across the line. He didn't realized that he had shifted and leapt at Goliath, who was too slow to react. Axel clamped down on his arm and Goliath cried out, shifting himself. The two wolves fought, jaws snapping and claws slashing at one another. Axel bit at Goliath's neck, a warning that served it's purpose well. Goliath immediately backed off, snarling and barking at Axel before dashing out of the tent.

Axel panted, shifting back into a more humaniod form. "Fucking bastard-" he muttered, thoughts still violent. He huffed angrily, quickly checking the bites and scratches that he recieved as well. Blood still boiling from the encounter, Axel headed back to his cot, irritated at the rebels. Why would they send Goliath to watch over them? The brickheaded bastard was only going to cause trouble. His raging migraine only pushed his irritablity further and he continued to rage at Goliath, calling him every name in the book...in his head of course. He didn't want Lia to lower her thinking of him more than it already had.

"Of course those fucking pathetic bastards sent him of all people to watch over us. Why couldn't be Tavion or Clyde? Now I've got the princess probably thinking I'm some feral animal.." he thought, completely unaware that the princess could hear. "Then he fucking PUSHED her, like who the fuck does that? She has a right to know that we kidnapped her for a ransom. She should know that she's going to be returned safe, this was nothing more than a minor inconvience if anything for her." he continued on, rambling in his own thoughts because his mouth was too busy muttering curses.

"Fucking brickhead son of a bitch." Axel muttered, holding his head in his hands. Growling at the audacity of Goliath, he didn't seem to remember Lia was there and basically jumped out of his skin whenever she said "Ransom?" It was like...she read his mind? Or did he say all of that out loud? His eletric blue eyes widened as she went off on her rant, saying that the royal family didn't care about her and they were better off snatching the son of a lord or "something". His jaw fell slightly and he was left speechless. He must've said it out loud. Oh my fuck- I can't believe I fucking said that out loud I'm such an idiot. Fuck.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he sighed softly and popped his knuckles. "As much as I want to take your word for it, I'm pretty sure any princess would've said it." he said, letting his head loll back limply. "Ugh." he muttered before straightening his pose again. His hangover was flitting away, which left him rather..famished. He hadn't remembered the last time he ate. Mmm..food sounds pretty nice right now.. he thought, absentmindedly licking his chops. I should get her something too. He pursed his lips, making eye contact. "Do you want something to eat? He asked, trying to get her to go somewhere under his watch.

Just as he was about to stand, the tent flaps suddenly opened with a harsh twip and another being came inside, dressed in all black with a hood concealing her face. The woman's presence was daunting, demanding authority the instant she came into the tent. Axel immediately dove for the floor, in what seemed like he was groveling at her feet. Her ice blue eyes scanned him before looking at Lia, hardening. She beckoned Axel up and he did just so, standing attention, thought going haywire with anxiety and bewilderment. "Ma' lady." He said quietly and she nodded. "Thank you, head outside and go grab 2 bowls. Fill them both up and return here." She stated and he bowed before scurrying out of the tent to retrieve the bowls.

She sat down on the cot opposite of Lia, taking off her hood and revealing her features. She had white hair, that fell short of her cheeks, startling icey blue eyes followed by skin that was the color of polished bronze. Surprisingly, there was no scars to be found, but her black armor hid everything down from her neck. It didn't hide the gold hilted sword that lay against her left thigh. She seemed to lick the inside of her cheeks before parting her lips to speak. "I couldn't help but overhear that the King and Queen don't care about you. " she stated, her hand driting to the sword. "Now, you either make them care, or.." she trailed off, unsheathing her sword and lining it up with Lia's neck. "We'll take it by force. Do you understand?"