Thank you for your lovely reviews. I didn't get to use Kira or Ginny's character here, but they will definitely be in the next chapter. Garen (or Gaer) is my character. The casting call is still open, and will continue to be so until further notice. Anyone is permitted to submit a character.
"Hey Gaer, whatcha find?" someone shouted as Brianna and her captor entered the clearing. The firelight revealed the captor to be a diminutive young man of about eighteen, with reddish hair in a short ponytail and a nose that was a little too big for the rest of him.
"A rich runaway," Gaer replied. "And I've told you about calling me 'Gaer'. It's Garen or nothing."
A girl a bit younger than Brianna's captor stood up and came over, stumbling a bit on a rock. She was dressed in a most outlandish fashion, in a tight sleeveless shirt with a skull on it, olive-coloured trousers that stopped at her knee, and striped stockings.
"You know you like it, Gaer," she said. She gave Brianna a once-over. "Huh. Looks like she ran off from a renaissance festival. You sure she's not part of the group?"
Brianna decided to take matters into her own hands. "I most certainly am not part of your stupid group! I'm not some commoner! I'm running away from my mean father who wants me to marry a moron. Are one of you Robin Hood? I'm looking for him so he'll protect me from my father and my boyfriend."
Garen ignored her. "She's not part of our group. I made sure everyone going in costume was wearing the right styles for the period. Plus, check out how she talks. Add that to her story, and she's clearly a Mary-Sue."
"Eww…" the girl said. "Didn't think that we'd have to actually work on this trip. It was supposed to be just research."
Another girl detatched herself from the circle and came over. She seemed a bit on the dull side, with blond hair a shade lighter than Brianna's own. She clearly wasn't fond of the fire, skirting around the edge of the clearing as she approached the small knot of people that was forming around Brianna and Garen.
"You're a princess, aren't you?" she asked Brianna.
Brianna smiled, flattered. "Not exactly, but my mother is King Richard's illegitimate half-sister."
"Royalty," the blond girl said darkly. She sat down on a nearby rock and stared into space.
"Calm down Lilly, I'm sure we can think of something horrible to do to her," Garen told her soothingly. "By the way, now that I'm no longer on guard duty, somebody should get out there and make sure nobody else shows up."
The first girl raised her hand. "I have to check my snares anyway," she said.
"Just don't catch yourself in them, Lee," Garen said with a grin. "You have no idea how annoying it is getting you untangled."
"Only because you can't see past that mountain you call a nose," Lee shot back. Garen laughed as she gathered up some supplies and left the clearing.
"I admit, I should have expected that one," he said once she was out of earshot. He turned to Brianna. "Now the question comes about what we're to do with you. I'd rather not do anything in the dark. There's too many unseen eyes in dark forests. I vote that we tie you to a tree and wait for morning. All in favour say 'aye'."
The chorus of "ayes" that followed almost completely drowned out Brianna's scream of terror.
Reviews welcomed. Flames will be used to roast venison.