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Part 3
Willow Posted Jan 16, 2003 10:12 AM
Alternate Adventures
Volume One:
Part Three
By: The CRWS
"Call it off...." the soldier growled at Seraph between clenched teeth, still eyeing the dragon apprehensively.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she leveled a Death Glare at him. "And how would your propose that I do that, might I ask?" she snapped in reply. Maybe if she was lucky, the reptile would decide to pounce and tear the bastard's throat out, spit acid in his face, torch him, or maybe something else entirely, depending on what kind of dragon it was. Too bad it wasn't a black dragon though, as she'd always been fond of them when she played D&D. Unfortunately in that case it would probably attack her too.
"I don't know! You're the daemon and you probably called it! Now get rid of it before I rive you through the heart!" he snapped back, desperation creeping into his tone.
Seraphim rolled her eyes and muttered several of the most vile obscenities she could think of under her breath. If the dragon didn't kill this guy, she would. "Dude, if I were indeed a daemon, a vamp or anything else of that ilk, do you think I'd just be walking casually around at this time of day? Furthermore, if I were any of the like, do you think I'd allow you to treat me the way you have been? But if you want me to do something about the dragon, fine. Anything to shut you up," she said, and before he could answer, she took a few steps over to the dragon.
It looked small as far as dragons seemed to go, and if she was lucky it wouldn't bite her hand off. "Hello there.... It's okay, don't be scared of the village idiot over there. Maybe you can help me get away from him...." she said, keeping her voice low enough so that the soldier couldn't make out anything she said.
*********
Gadine stood glaring at the soldier. Now that she had his attention, she had no clue what she was going to do. If she pounced on him, she might hurt the girl, not to mention get herself stabbed. If she only had the ability to flame-no, she would probably torch them both. Her uncle could spit ice very accurately, but again, that was not a skill she had either.
The strange looking girl took a few steps toward her. Gadine wasn't totally clear on what the girl said, she had just started her lessons in human speech, but she did pick out ‘Help’. She shifted her weight as the girl drew nearer. When she was out of the way, Gadine whirled, smacking the soldier squarely in the back of the head with her tail. She smiled to herself at the accomplishment.
**********
Bryant looked at the impudent young woman with the wolf at her side. “What do you mean what did I do to her?” he demanded.
Geoff stepped forward and kneeled next to her. “She’s okay, no broken bones or anything, just unconscious.”
“See,” Will said icily behind her, “your little friend is fine. Now answer our questions.”
Corey spun on Will glaring at him. “How dare you!” she snarled.
Vallen moaned and opened her eyes, wincing as the sunlight over her sent stabs of pain through her pounding head. “What hit me?” she groaned.
“Nothing,” a man’s voice told her. “You landed on it.”
Vallen risked opening her eyes more and found she could stand the light again. She was aware of the many pairs of eyes on her, most of them from men she had never seen before. She tried to move and froze. She was laying on top of someone, she had heard him grunt. “Oh boy....” she muttered.
Corey brushed past the three men and kneeled next to her friend. “You all right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” she said placing a hand to her head. She froze and her eyes opened wide. “Corey, the others! Where are they?” she demanded looking at her friend, her eyes wide.
Corey shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.
“I’m here!” Willow said stepping through the half circle of men she had been hidden behind. She moved to stand next to Corey.
The men stared. There was another girl dressed in the queerest garments they had seen. Curiously they wondered if there were any more and where they all had come from.
“Anyone else?” Vallen asked.
Willow shook her head.
Corey pursed her lips and got to her feet looking around and up at the sky, searching for any familiar figures. Her hand buried itself in the fur on the wolf’s back. Willow joined her.
The other army had suffered the loss of the one-on-one fight between the Prince and their commander. They had all disappeared after and had not returned.
Vallen pushed herself up to a sitting position.
“Let me help you,” Bryant offered holding his hand out.
Vallen took it and was hauled to her feet.
Will gestured Bryant and Geoff to step closer to them. “We need to know that they are not enemies. They speak of others, how do we know that they are not the second wave who wishes to invade us?” he whispered to them
Bryant nodded gravely.
Geoff shook his head. “I believe they are good,” he whispered back.
Will glared at him. “You are too soft hearted and trusting. It will get you killed one day boy.”
Bryant chopped his hand through the air slightly signaling for quiet before the two could begin arguing. “I agree with Will, we should be cautious of these girls. We know nothing of them.” He gripped his sword hilt tighter and turned to the three girls. “Ladies,” he addressed them.
The girls looked up at him.
“I mean no disrespect to you, but until we know more of you, and your friends, and your intentions, I have to place you under arrest.”
Wide eyes regarded him with surprise, and some fear.
He gestured at them with his hand and some of the men with him surrounded the three girls, weapons lowered.
“Oh crud....” Vallen breathed.
Corey stood up suddenly, feeling threatened- who wouldn't?-, frightened- who didn't?- and angry with the fact that they weren't trusted. She knew the anger was unjustified- after all, she and the others had fallen in on the men, not vice versa- but that knowledge didn't make any of her frustration go away. She opened her mouth to speak--nothing came out but a squeak. She glared at the soldier with his sword point at her breastbone. Moving away, she snapped at him, "What did you think I was going to do, attack? Christ, I'm unarmed and fairly untrained." Vallen tugged on her friend's shirt sleeve warningly.
"Don't piss them off," she hissed. Corey relaxed, but stayed tense, looking as if she would literally bite the next soldier came upon her.
"We meant no offense, ladies," said Bryant. "But until we know more about you, and where you come from, we can't leave you running around freely. Do you understand? We don't wish to make a mess of this."
Corey opened her mouth to respond but Willow got there first. "Of course we understand. We just... aren't sure of how we got here."
"Or where 'here' is, exactly," added Vallen.
Bryant looked at Will and Geoff inquiringly; Geoff shrugged helplessly, and Will did not seem to care.
"Come on, ladies. We need to go," Bryant ordered. "I hope this can be conducted in a peaceful manner." The three girls rose. The men surrounding them waited patiently while the two adjusted their unconscious friend's grip around their shoulders, then escorted them toward the castle.
**********
Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open. She was lying on a bed where several people in robes were walking around, tending to her and various other people. They were mostly soldiers and other robed people, all of them had wounds of some sort. Their injuries were being tended to, broken arms were set, bleeding heads were bandaged, etc. She bit her lip at the sight of the wounded, having never really seen so much blood before, except in movies. She hopped out of bed and walked up to the first person she saw. It was a woman in long robes who had just finished wrapping someone's burned arm.
"Um... excuse me, miss?" Liz asked her. The woman turned around.
"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, thank you. I was wondering where I am..." Liz questioned. The woman looked her up and down, taking in her flared jeans and black peasant blouse.
"I can see you aren't from around here. You're inside the Domones Castle of Light in the Cenith Kingdom," the woman spoke, moving on to another patient.
"Okay... um... could you please tell me your name?" Liz asked as she followed the woman, groping for a question while trying to make sense of it all.
"I'm Enchantress Catherine. What's your name, dear?" the woman replied.
“Elizabeth. Uh... just call me Liz. What happened to the soldiers and people here?" Liz asked. Catherine sighed.
"There were attackers. Everyone is trying to overthrow the throne. Our world is split into two great forces, constantly battling one another. I wish it would all end," she replied. Liz took this all in while slowly massaging her temples. Nothing was making much sense and passing out had given her a big headache. Liz sighed and bit her lip, her eyes still lingering on her friend. She thought a moment, then asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?" She needed something to take her mind off things for a while. Catherine looked at her skeptically.
"I'll do anything you want me to. I... I tend to adjust better when I can do something easy like organizing things or cleaning. Please, can I help? " Catherine smiled.
"Of course you may help," she said, and put the girl to work organizing and retrieving medical supplies.
**********
The girls walked slightly before the men, who were keeping a close respectful watch on the strangers.
"I don't see why they have to be so formal about it." Corey grumbled angrily. "We already agreed to go peacefully, and it's not like if we tried to escape there would be anywhere to go." Vallen grinned.
"Well think of it this way. At least we're going somewhere. Who knows, maybe we'll meet up with some of the others if they came here too." Corey nodded.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Willow mused, gazing out around them. The others gave her a strange look.
“It's a battlefield Wil, and it absolutely reeks of death. What's so beautiful about that?" Corey retorted. Willow hung her head sheepishly.
"Of course not where we are at the moment... but the whole atmosphere. It's almost like living at the Renaissance Festival, you know?" There was a slight pause before she spoke again. "Ok, maybe it's just me...."
"Yeah, maybe."
Willow shrugged, and began to sing under her breath. It was something to keep her mind off the confusion that had just happened in the past few moments. "On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the world and meet the sky;
And through the field the road run by
To many-tower'd Camelot..."
It seemed to work, keeping focus on something other than the death around them, the recent arrest and the fact that they had no idea where they were or what was going to happen next.
Slowly, Corey and Vallen joined Willow in harmonies, a lilting music vibrated in the surrounding silence as they walked on.
"The castle is right up this way." Bryant motioned atop a nearing hill with his sword. The trek continued as they drew nearer to their destination.
**********
Drew quickly followed behind the dragon heading toward her friend. "Please let this be a dream. I know I've always imagined getting transported to some other world, but I really didn't want to end up in the middle of a battlefield." She broke into a run. The dragon was moving much faster then she was. If she didn't hurry, the thing night eat Seraph before she even got into yelling distance.
"Krimes! How do I expect to face a dragon? That thing's huge!" Drew reached into her back pocket as she ran. "Pocket knife. Like that puny thing will be any good against a dragon. Lighter, yeah like that compares to breathing fire. Tape measure, calculator, useless." Since she wasn't paying attention to where she was running, Drew tripped and fell, hard.
"What luck." She said sarcastically. Drew blanched. It was a body, missing a few vital parts. Namely the head and both legs. Dead things didn't bother her much, but messy dead things were not fun to fall over.
"What luck!" she repeated, happily this time. There was a spear laying next to the body. Now that could be useful. She grabbed the spear and continued running. The dragon had just knocked the guy (she could see it was a soldier now) out with its tail.
Drew ran between the dragon and Seraph, pointing the spear at the creature. Unfortunately, she hadn't actually looked closely at the spear. No sooner had she gotten into a ready stance, the sharp tip of the spear fell off.
Drew watched the metal piece fall to the ground, then looked at the blunt end pointed towards the dragon. "Oh shit."
**********
The song died down and the three girls froze as they saw what laid before them.
A palace on top of a tall hill that seemed like a combination of a fairy tale castle and a fortress of medieval England stood before them. It was both beautiful and imposing, even in the destruction that surrounded it, the city at the foot of the tall hill that smoldered at the front of it, the smoke that rose from places inside the castle that revealed dead fires where the enemy had tried to start them, the bodies that laid strewn about it, and the people, some sobbing some bravely tending the wounded, who moved about it.
“That is the Domones Castle of Light,” Bryant told them looking at it. He turned to look at the girls. “Let's go,” he ordered.
They started off again towards the castle.
As they approached the town the people who saw them began cheering and thanking them for saving their lives and homes. The men took the compliments with civility and some broke off the main group to go and see about their homes, families, and friends.
The girls couldn’t help notice how they were stared at by the people who saw them. Or how their clothes and styles were being commented on in whispers.
Corey glared at a few of the people as Willow blushed in embarassment and Vallen stood straight and ignored it.
On they marched to the castle. The guards at the front stared at the girls until they noticed Bryant and saluted him. The three girls didn’t know who they were saluting but didn’t have time to wonder as they were led inside the front gates over the drawbridge and through the inner wall portcullis.
All around them wounded men laid being tended to as others rushed to tend to them and to see how much damage had been done. Bryant stopped them and Vallen had to struggle to keep what Seraph called her ‘mother hen complex’ under control. Her mother was a doctor and her father had been a EMT, her grandfather an apothecary. They had all taught her how to take care of hurt people, her grandfather had even taught her pressure points and non-modern day healing.
Bryant gestured some men to come forward and the girls watched as the large man in red Vallen had landed on was dragged, bound hand and foot, forward and dropped before them.
“Take him to the prison. We’ll question him later,” he ordered. The soldiers with him nodded and dragged the man away.
Vallen looked at Corey and Willow wide eyed. They were all hoping the same thing, that they wouldn’t be taken to the prison to be ‘questioned’ too. They were relieved when Bryant led them forward into the castle.
Inside Vallen had to struggle even more to not stop and help the wounded about her. She bit the insides of her bottom lip to quell the desire.
Willow froze as she recognized a familiar figure with short, plum-streaked black hair. “Liz!” she yelled.
Bryant and the others stopped and looked up to see the girl who immediately began to run forward to greet her friends, fighting off tears as she did. “Another one?” He whispered to Will and Geoff.
“Yes and this one is inside the palace and unguarded,” Will icily commented.
Liz then noticed the way the men were surrounding them and looked nervous. “What’s going on?”
“We’re under arrest. And since you’re one of us, you probably are too,” Corey remarked casually while glaring the whole time at Will who glared back.
“I’m afraid so Miss,” Bryant said. “It’s only until we can straighten this all out.”
Liz nodded frightened a bit. She looked around and saw Enchantress Catherine. “Can you help us?” she asked.
She shook her red head. “Nay I cannot contest the orders of His Highness,” she said.
Four pairs of wide eyes snapped themselves onto Bryant.
“Highness?!” Vallen squeaked.
Bryant ignored them. “There is a way you can help them Enchantress,” he said. “You can take the unconscious one and treat her if you may.”
Enchantress Catherine bowed slightly in answer.
Corey growled. Willow had no idea what to do.
Vallen turned and stared deeply at Bryant. Bryant stared back without flinching. For long silent moments they studied each other then Vallen broke contact and turned to the others. “We can trust him,” she declared.
“What?!” Corey shrieked.
“Corey!” Vallen snapped cutting off anything her friend might say to get them into trouble. “Think about it, they're only taking us prisoner because they don’t know anything about us.”
Willow looked at Corey. “She’s right. They’ve done nothing bad to us so far,” she said.
“And I trust Catherine,” Liz added.
Corey thought about it a long moment and then grudgingly gave in.
“Ladies, this way,” Will said icily pointing with his sword in the direction where the Great Hall was.
The girls each took deep breaths and began walking in that direction.
**********
Gadine wasn't sure if she wanted to severely maim the new human that had appeared to wave a weapon in her face, or fall over laughing when the point fell off. It was painfully obvious even to her that the girl did not know how to use the thing. Plus the other human looked happy to see her. The new human was probably trying to save the one she had just saved.
The two humans spoke to each other. Then the new one put the useless spear down. She still was watched suspiciously, but that didn't bother her too much. The humans looked around. They looked lost. Well, odds were they were looking for the castle, or for someone, who in turn was probably at the castle.
Gadine lowered a shoulder, and gestured with her head to her back. She might not be able to fly with weight, but she was certainly big enough to run the distance with two passengers. Besides her mother had told her never to go in the castle or city because it would scare the humans. If she had some humans from the castle with her, it had to be OK to finally see what was so great inside the castle.
The two girls looked at her, then conversed some more. Gadine tried again to motion them to her back. She really wished she spoke human right now. It would make things so much easier. Finally the strange looking human walked towards her and put a hand on her back. Gadine nodded. The human climbed up. Gadine looked at the second, hesitating, human. The one on her back motioned to her friend. Finally the other joined her friend on Gadine's back. Gadine turned towards the castle, and took off running.
**********
The girls followed the men through the winding stone walls of the castle to the Great Hall. It was huge! The girls were amazed at the vastness of the hall. There were two stories to it, the first taller then normal. A series of tiers rose up the wall behind the throne dias, places in which members of the Imperial Council sat while court was in session. Twelve steps led up to the top of the dias on which the throne sat. Along the upper story of the hall were walkways and balconies that looked down on the hall. Benches stood along side the walls where people could sit during the long hours of court business. Beautiful tapestries of silk and cotton and wool hung from the roof and over the walls, and behind the throne was a giant stained glass window, a red rose in the middle of a golden sun, the royal emblem of the Cenith kingdom. Bryant turned to them.
"I'm sorry. Guard!" he called. Several armed guards ran into the room.
“Yes, Prince Bryant?" they asked in unison. Vallen looked at him in disbelief.
"Prince?!" she asked. He smiled, then got a little more serious.
"Guards, we have to place these girls under arrest, at least until we know more about them. Please, however, don't throw them in the dungeon. Give them a guest suite, but put it under lock and heavy guard," he told them.
"Yes, your highness," they said. The guards surrounded the group, some pointing their swords at them. Liz moved a little more behind Vallen. She didn't like pointed objects at all. "Let's go then," one guard ushered them along. Willow, Corey, Vallen, and Liz all followed them out of the room and down another hall.
Corey looked around at the rich tapestries that lined the walls. Paintings of royalty in lavish garments, were so well done that she could see the shadow in the folds of velvet and silk or the light glinting off the golden amulets around the neck. She looked at gilded mirrors and furniture as she walked, not paying much attention to where she was going.
She had cooled her temper fairly quickly, her more rational senses taking over and calming her bruised mind. She had no idea what was going on, and she knew that there was not a way to get back home right now. *So why bitch about it?* she asked herself. *Just take it as it comes. Not like there's much you can do about it anyway.*
Her reverie was broken by a few faint shrieks from down the hall, accompanied by the deeper shouts of men. Most of the girls froze, worried that perhaps the guards would think they had brought whatever-it-was and kill them on the spot.
Corey turned with the guards. She realized at that moment that Aram wasn't at her side. *Guess he left when they took us...* Without thinking, she released an ear-piercing whistle after hearing the clicking of nonretractable claws on marble floor.
Everyone looked at her strangely, especially the guards, a few of whom pointed their blades at her. A low growl came from the other end of the hall, the large silvery great wolf coming into view. The guards looked from Corey- who had a smile on her face- to the great wolf and blinked. She knelt down to hug Aram around the neck, burying her fingers in his fur.
"What in the—"
"He's mine," Corey asserted, standing and acting as if nothing happened. "He won't hurt anyone, as long as I'm all right." The guards looked at her in surprise. She motioned forward. "Aren't we supposed to be going?"
"Yes. On." The lead soldier turned hesitantly and walked on. The rest of them waited for the girls to go, then followed them, keeping a distance from the wolf. Corey kept her fingers twisted in the furry ruff. Vallen looked over at her quizzically; Corey shrugged and shook her head, meaning "Not now. Later," and walked on. She felt warmer inside, as if something that was gone had come home to her and completed her being. She smiled happily, walking on.
**********
Aerielle brushed strands of plum hair behind her ear and studied the battlefield after leaving the forest. "Looks like it's over, Liam." The fox glanced up at her then at the battlefield. Aeri frowned when she saw the tan/gold dragon running toward the castle with two strangely clad girls on its back. "I think that's a good place to start." She gathered up her dark green skirt and headed towards the castle.
Aeri followed the dragon and riders. "I want to know what's going on. I wish I spoke dragon…" Aeri said as she picked up speed. Liam followed and arrived at the gates about the same time as the dragon and two girls.
**********
The room they had been led to was well-furnished in surprisingly non-medieval furniture. There were couches, love seats, comfortable arm chairs, all richly tapestried with lovely woven blankets thrown over the backs of them and wonderfully made pillows. The view was amazing, or it would have been if it didn't look down on the battle field. The girls would have enjoyed staying in the room if they hadn't had to step aside while men removed bodies from it.
"Oy...." was all Vallen could say at the sight.
"Please ladies will you enter?" the guard asked.
Vallen took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold and into the room, finding a seat on a couch far away from the blood stains where the bodies had been. The other girls followed her example.
Two armed guards stood inside the room on either side of the door while two more took positions outside the door and it was closed and locked.
There was quite a few moments of tense silence.
"So..." Vallen started smiling at the two silent men, "what room are we in?"
"His Majesties casual reception room," the biggest guard, who was at least three times Vallen's height, said.
Vallen nodded and went quiet again. She raised wide green eyes at her friends and they waited.
**********
"Father," Bryant said approaching the brown haired man who was leaning over plans and maps of the local area that were on his desk in his personal office, discussing where the people could put up tents until their homes were rebuilt and the plans of supplies needed to rebuild those houses and businesses.
King Lawrence Cenith looked up at his son, his wise blue eyes somber. He didn't wear his crown or circlet and his clothes were dirty and blood stained, but he still had the bearing and power of a king about him.
"The Masters?" he asked immediately. "Did they make it?"
Bryant nodded. "I saw them close the door behind them before we were teleported outside the castle."
"And now?"
Bryant shook his head.
King Lawrence looked at one of the soldiers with him. "Go to the Tower and see what happened."
The man saluted him and moved off at a brisk walk.
King Lawrence looked at his son. "You wanted to speak to me of something?" he said.
Bryant nodded. "We discovered some girls, some very odd girls, on the battle fields."
"Oh?" The king raised an eyebrow at his son.
"They fell out of the sky, Your Majesty," Geoff interjected. "One of them saved His Highness’s life."
"She did, did she?"
"Landed on a man who was about to stab him in the back," Will explained.
"Interesting." He looked back at the plans on his desk. "And what have you done with them?"
"Captain Glycl took them to your personal reception room until it was figured out who, or what, they are," Bryant told him.
King Lawrence nodded. "I'll see them in the Great Hall after I am finished with business here. Until then, since they seem non-dangerous enough, treat them like honored prisoners, give them food and water. And if any more show up, place them with the others." He looked at his golden hazel eyed son. "Sir Will and Sir Falchion take care of that. Bryant stay and help me. Then I will be finished faster and we can handle the girls sooner."
They nodded and Will and Geoff left to act out their lords orders. Meanwhile King Lawrence watched as Bryant gave his own opinion of the problems and stood back to let his heir learn.
**********
Drew settled herself on the dragon's back behind Seriph. not too different from riding a horse, if you ignored the wings behind your butt. The dragon took off running. Drew held on with a death grip. "We’regonnadie. We’regonnadie. Wait a sec this is fun. Wheeeee!"
The dragon stopped at the castle gate. Drew's attention was caught by the approaching figure. She was an oddly dressed woman accompanied by a rather large fox. Ok Drew, get a grip on yourself. Mentally Drew slapped herself. The first thing she should do is get off the dragon... incase it decided to bolt or something.
Just as Drew started to lean to the side, a voice from the direction of the gate stopped her. "Nobody move!" In front of her Seraph groaned. Oh great, more of those soldiers. This was going to be a really bad day.
**********
Corey studied the view from the window, ignoring the blood spatters on it. Looking over the battlefield, she shook her head at the thought of men who had needlessly lost their lives, then moved her gaze out toward the forest beyond it. Aramil rubbed his head against her hand comfortingly, and she smiled down on the silvery canine. Turning, she sat against the wall, while Aram gave her something to lean on. She scratched his ears while she looked around. Her eyes inevitably landed on the guards and stayed there. One noticed.
"Is there something I can do for you, Miss?" She blinked for a moment then gathered herself.
"You could answer a few questions for me." Corey felt her friends' eyes on her person, but ignored them.
"If I can, I will answer your questions, Miss."
"Thank you, sir. Why are we here, instead of in the dungeon?" she asked. "Not that I don't like it here, but it just seems rather curious."
He chuckled. "King Lawrence ordered that you ladies be treated like honored prisoners instead of common ruffians and brought to a suite. He will be with you shortly."
"To question us?" asked Vallen quietly.
"Yes, Miss, to question you. There are a great many things that we wish to know."
"Such as how did we fly out of the sky and land in the midst of your battle?" offered Corey dryly
"That, among other things. One thing I'd like to ask you is about that wolf," the man told her. She shrugged.
"I landed in a creek when I fell. I got out and he led me to the battlefield. Does he make you nervous?" The man cleared his throat but changed the subject.
"What are your names, ladies?" the guard asked, looking at Vallen, then Corey with questions in his eyes.
"I'm Vallen Laerdies."
"Corey Lark."
"I'm Willow Larson."
"Elizabeth Foxfire."
"And you are?" Vallen asked the guard after a moment of uneasy silence. He didn't seem to want to answer. "It is only fair that we have your name, sir. After all, we gave you ours."
"I am Glycl, Captain of the Royal Guard." Corey noticed that he drew himself a little taller when he told them that and giggled to herself over the quirks of men.
"We're pleased to meet you, Captain Glycl," said Vallen pleasantly.
"As am I, ladies. I just wish it didn't have to be under such difficult circumstances," remarked Glycl.
"You and me both, man," muttered Corey.
The idle chatter went on for a while longer until the doors opened again to admit three guards.
"We're here to take you to the king." They said gruffly, though they made no menacing movements. "Follow us, please."