#//i think her and milo would get along pretty well since she faced scary/dangers things almost everyday and isnt scared by must of it

[stereotypcd]

@rnurphyslawed​ liked for a starter

         ❝  You might wanna move- there’s like, a herd of gazelle coming. ❞  Voice dry, blowing a bubble with a BORED EXPRESSION. 

[jilliancares]

Yo I was looking through all the fics I've read and I wanted to re-read 'The King's Quest' but I realised it was a patreon reward and was never posted. I was wondering if there is anywhere that I can find it?

I finally went and looked through my documents and found it! I’ll post it here!

The King’s Quest - 5k - a short, original wlw fiction story wherein the main character sets off to find the king’s missing crown, seeing as the one who accomplishes this task gets to marry the princess

“I don’t know why I go along with your plans,” Milo complained, hiking the (second) bag on his back higher. He’d offered to carry Jaz’s bag a mile back and had decided their mission was doomed ever since.

“Because you have nothing better to do,” Jaz answered honestly, and Milo made a sound in the back of his throat that was half agreement and half offense. It was true, though. Summer had come to their kingdom and without jobs or the responsibility of school, they had all the free time in the world.

They came from a small town — one small enough that there weren’t very many other kids their age — so if Milo had decided to stay while Jaz went on this adventure on her own, he would’ve been very much bored and alone for the summer. As it was, he tended to follow in Jaz’s footsteps, which led to grand adventures like this one (and less grand adventures, like their too frequent visits to the principal’s office). It wasn’t that Jaz liked making and getting in trouble, it was that she had grand plans for life, and not much could get in the way of her plans.

Examples of these grand plans included stealing Old Man Johnson’s pig, convincing Milo to shave his head, and marrying Princess Amelia. It wasn’t her fault that her plans tended to occasionally have disastrous results. Sure, Old Man Johnson had tried to have them arrested, and sure, Milo was still recovering from that stint with a pair of scissors, but what really mattered was that they’d had fun. Or at least, Jaz had.

Still, Jaz could admit this adventure was turning out to be less fun than she’d been anticipating. When the King had put out the royal order announcing that the first person to retrieve his royal (but stolen) crown would be able to marry his daughter, Jaz had jumped to attention with the beginnings of an adventure swirling through her brain. She’d imagined daring stakes and dangerous terrains and dueling masked strangers, and so far all she’d gotten was a long trek up a longer hill with a best friend who wouldn’t stop complaining.

Granted, he was carrying her bag, but he’d offered to do that. It wasn’t her fault that he had some misguided sense of chivalry. It’d been days since they’d left their hometown and Jaz had had a fine time of carrying her own bag all that time, but the moment they’d reached the base of the mountain Milo had puffed up his chest and claimed it was his pride on the line.

“Just give me my bag back,” Jaz insisted, turning around and walking up the path backwards, arm extended and fingers wiggling in Milo’s direction. She could see the want in his eyes, the desire to rid himself of the extra weight and make this unbearable climb slightly more bearable.

“No,” he ended up saying, hands coming up to cling to the straps on his shoulders. “I’m fine.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re —” Jaz cut herself off. Or, more accurately, the knife pressed against her throat, held by the person who Jaz currently had her back pressed against, cut her off. It was common instinct to shut the fuck up when an armed stranger had your life in their hands. Pretty hands, at that. Were those fingers manicured?

“Let’s all just calm down!” Milo shouted, eyes wide with panic as he flung his arms in the air in the universal sign of, I mean you no harm, please don’t slit my best friend’s throat. Unfortunately, the momentum of his arms flying into the air combined with the weight of two bags situated on his back overbalanced him, and he fell backwards and started tumbling down the mountain.

“Milo!” Jaz shouted, because even with a knife at your throat there was something scary about watching your best friend tumble head over feet down a steep and rocky slope. He slowed a few yards down from them, sliding sideways down the path, and let out a loud groan that assured Jaz his pride was hurt more than his body.

“Wow, I totally didn’t need to threaten you guys,” the potential-murderer said, and she released Jaz, spinning her dagger in her hand and tucking it into her belt. Milo was climbing back to his feed, slumping back up to where Jaz and the yet-to-be-a-murderer stood.

“Oh, good,” he panted, smiling weakly at the two of them. “You’ve worked out your differences.”

With Milo back at her side and a knife no longer at her throat, Jaz felt secure enough to examine her would-be murderer. Her nails were manicured, though that was hardly the only put-together thing about her. Her long hair was pinned up into an elegant bun atop her head, and her traveling clothes didn’t appear to have even a speck of dirt on them; meanwhile Jaz and Milo were covered from head to toe in dust. (Milo more-so, having just tumbled down the mountain.)

“Do you try to kill every traveler you see or was just there something special about us?” Jaz questioned. She couldn’t decide whether this girl was still a threat. Sure, her knife was put away, but how could anyone look so refined under a midday summer’s sun?

“I heard you two arguing,” the girl said with a shrug. “I assumed you’d be a couple more idiots on the King’s Quest.”

“And you think we’re not because…?” Milo said unhelpfully. If this girl only attacked idiots on the Quest then they’d better pretend they were a couple idiots on an afternoon hike!

“Well, you’re clearly not up to the task,” the girl laughed. “Sorry for having mistaken you.”

And, okay, this was probably why Jaz got in trouble all the time. She had a couple issues with things such as ‘holding her tongue’ and ‘keeping her temper,’ so it was with an indignant scoff that she responded to the girl, “What makes you think that?”

The girl blinked, surprised. Then she waved a hand at them, gesturing to them in general. Even Milo made an offended sound.

“I’ll have you know that we are on the King’s Quest!” Jaz snapped, leaning forward to get into the girl’s face. Probably not the best idea, considering she had a knife and possibly the devil on her side, seeing as she must’ve sold her soul to be looking like this in the middle of nowhere. “And we’re gonna find the crown first and I’m gonna marry the Princess!”

With that, Jaz stomped past the girl and further up the path, Milo scurrying along behind her, the weight of the bags forgotten. It made sense that this girl, some sort of soul-selling, mountain-guarding asshole, would’ve found a lot of people on the King’s Quest by hiding up in this mountain. It was the one path that crossed from the eastern half of the kingdom to the western half, and the town on the other side was home to a colony of secret-sellers. Anyone could learn anything there, so long as they had something the secret-keepers would want. It was this town that was Jaz’s current destination. There, she would barter for the last known location of the crown, and then she’d be off again, one step closer to marrying the princess.

“Wait!” the girl yelled, and it was instinct that made Jaz grab Milo’s wrist and start booking it up the last stretch of the mountain. In her mind’s eye, the girl was chasing after them, her knife held out and ready to stab their retreating backs.

“We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die —” Milo was panting. Jaz glanced over at him to see that his eyes were squinched shut.

“Open your eyes!” she yelled at him.

“I don’t want to!” he burst out, all in one breath, and Jaz groaned, cursing her best friend and chancing a glance over her shoulder, possibly one of the last over-the-shoulder-glances she would ever have.

She was right in that the girl was chasing them, except she wasn’t carrying her knife, and her hair had escaped it’s updo and was falling around her red face as she chased after them. It was this (the hair, not the absense of the knife) that finally persuaded Jaz to stop. This girl was human after all.

“Why are we stopping?!” Milo demanded, because Jaz was still holding onto his wrist and he’d stumbled to a stop immediately after she had.

“I don’t think we’re about to get murdered,” Jaz said.“Famous last words,” Milo said darkly, moments before the girl caught up to them and bent over her knees, breathing heavily.

“God,” she said, her voice thin and breathless. “Never make me run up a mountain again.” And then, once she’d caught her breath and stood up straight, she smiled. “I want to join you,” she said.

Jaz considered it. “No.”

“Wha — why not!?”

Counting off her fingers, Jaz said, “You held a knife to my throat, said we ‘weren’t up to the task,’ and I’m going to marry the Princess.”

“What does that last one have to do with me?”

“If you find the crown first, you could try to steal my future wife. I can’t risk that,” Jaz scoffed, her tone obvious. Milo was nodding importantly.

“What about him?” the girl said, gesturing to Milo.

“Uh-uh,” Milo said loudly, shaking his head. “I want nothing to do with the Princess. I’m just here as moral support.”

“Well, I want nothing to do with the Princess either,” the girl said haughtily. “After you marry her, you could give me some gold or something. That’ll be my compensation.”

Jaz considered it again. This girl did have a knife, which she seemed pretty skilled with, and maybe she’d sold enough of her soul for Jaz to look even half as clean as she did. “Fine,” Jaz said, still eyeing the stranger carefully. “You can come with us.” She extended her hand. “I’m Jaz. Short for Jasmine.”

“Nice to meet you, Jasmine,” said the girl.

“No,” Jaz said. “Short for Jasmine. I’m Jaz.”

“Right, right. And I’m Millie.” The girl — Millie — nodded her head as she said this, shaking Jaz’s hand.

“Milo,” Milo interrupted, turning their handshake into a hand pile, which he then shook up and down.

With introductions finished and knives still yet to be buried in anyone’s skin, they were off. Having run up the mountain, a good amount of the climb was behind them, and before they knew it they were cresting the peak, able to see the town below.

“So what’s our plan?” Millie asked. It was strange, how quickly they became a ‘we’ instead of an ‘us and the scary girl with the knife.’

“We go there,” Jaz explained, pointing to the town below them. “We’re gonna barter for information of the crown’s whereabouts.”

“All right, all right, yeah. Good plan. Except I already know where the crown is.”

Both Jaz and Milo turned to look at Millie in shock. For what probably shouldn’t have been the first time, Jaz wondered, who is this girl?

“Um,” said Milo. “How?”

“I already bartered for it,” she said, gesturing towards the town with a jerk of her head. “Real stingey, the secret-keepers. I almost thought I wouldn’t have anything they’d want.”

“What’d you give them?” Jaz asked incredulously. She was aware that she didn’t have much to offer herself, but she’d already been coming up with plans in her mind as to how she might buy a secret anyway. She was thinking of promising them gold if — (when) — she found the crown and married the Princess, or something like offering to be their servant for a year otherwise. It wasn’t ideal, but she was desperate and information was scarce. And yet in swoops Millie, the immaculate Fixer of All Problems. How the hell does that happen?

“Oh — just, you know. Some jewelry,” Millie answered unhelpfully. Jaz squinted at her distrustfully. Milo cheered.

“One less step for us!” he said excitedly, immediately throwing both his and Jaz’s bags to the ground. “I vote we take a break.” Before Jaz could protest, could claim that they should head off now if they really wanted to be the first ones to find the crown, Millie joined Milo on the ground.

“Perfect,” she said, sitting prim and proper and folding her hands in her lap. “I was starting to get a cramp.”

Very quickly, Jaz was learning that Millie was not the best travel companion. Unlike Milo, who always let Jaz be the leader of their little duo, she challenged Jaz’s directions and made suggestions of her own. Granted, sometimes these suggestions turned out to be better than Jaz’s ideas in the first place, but she still didn’t much like the feeling of being challenged.

Not to mention the fact that Millie was so secretive. Every night when they built a fire and gathered around it and ate whatever provisions they had for dinner, they talked. Conversation strayed and laughter rung freely, but whenever any kind of personal question was directed Millie’s way she closed right up. She didn’t seem to want to talk about her past or her home or herself. It was starting to get old, in Jaz’s opinion. She hated the way their conversations stuttered to an awkward stop, right at Millie’s feet.

Possibly the worst thing about her, though, was the fact that she thought the King’s Quest was stupid. And they were on the King’s Quest!

“I just think it’s derogatory,” Millie went on pompously. They’d left the terrain of the mountain and everything neighboring it days ago. Now, they were stomping through a forest in what was supposedly the fastest way towards the crown. Except the forest was giving way to swampland and Jaz could feel her feet sinking and squelching with every step. Her mood was already low enough, what with this horrible and uncomfortable part of their journey, and she certainly didn’t need Millie going on about how the King’s Quest was derogatory. Especially not when she never seemed to sink into the mud herself, picking her way across the land on somehow only the parts that didn’t sink.

“I think you’re derogatory,” Jaz muttered under her breath, but Millie didn’t hear her. Milo was some yards ahead of them, covered in mud up to his knees.

“I think the ground’s getting more stable over here!” he called back excitedly, waving as if they weren’t able to see him as easily as he could see them. He then took another step forward and sank up to his waist. “Mmm, just kidding!”

Millie continued on as if none of this had happened. “I mean, think about it. Everyone’s just trying to marry the Princess without knowing anything about her. They just want gold or jewels or power, Jasmine.”

“It’s Jaz,” Jaz bit out. Scratch everything she’d said before — the worst thing about Millie was the fact that she couldn’t seem to get Jaz’s name right. “And you’re the one who wanted compensation in gold,” Jaz pointed out. “I want her undying love and affection.”

Millie rolled her eyes, which Jaz didn’t fail to see. She pointed a finger at Millie. “You’re wrong,” she said. “Sure, I bet some people are just in it for the money or whatever, but that doesn’t mean everyone is. Some of us have been waiting all our lives to meet the Princess. Some of us have read every single one of her interviews. Some of us have even donated to all the charities she’s founded.”

Millie raised an eyebrow. “Well now you’re just talking about yourself, aren’t you?”

Jaz blushed. “She’s a great person,” she enthused. “We’re soulmates — which she’ll realize the second she meets me.” With a sigh, Jaz let her mind wander, imagining carrying the crown up the castle’s steps, the King weeping gratefully at her feet, Princess Amelia crying my hero! when she saw her.

“Well let’s just hope you are the one to find it,” Millie said with a huff. “Otherwise some creep might end up marrying the Princess.”

Jaz glared at the other girl. “I will fight any and all creeps that try to get in the way of me and the Princess.”

Milo, still stuck in the mud up to his waist, finally called out for help.

It took another good hour of slumming through the swamp until they were finally on solid ground again, and practically the rest of the afternoon of trudging through yet more forest before they were emerging into another unimpressive field. Honestly, Jaz had been expecting this journey to the crown to be a bit more exciting. They’d yet to pass through a single town, all their travels being through useless, obscure places.

“Where did you say this crown was again?” Jaz demanded, arms crossed as she surveyed the disgusting amount of endless field before them. She was tired of walking. She was tired of there not being any paths. She was tired of not having the crown in her hands.

“Oh it’s — in that direction,” Millie said, pointing her finger across the field.

“Yeah, but what’s this place called?”

“It’s… too hard to pronounce,” Millie said, avoiding eye contact, and Jaz grit her teeth in anger. She was suddenly and viciously confident that Millie was lying to her. Every time they’d asked her where they were going, she’d avoided answering in the way Jaz wanted, avoiding giving this place they were apparently going to a name.

“Spell it out, I’m great at pronouncing things,” Milo suggested happily.

“I don’t know how to spell it,” Millie answered, and Jaz was sure. This girl was a liar. Jaz had been an idiot to trust her, a random person squatting in the mountains and threatening adventurers with knives.

“Oh, well,” Jaz said lightly, uncharacteristically dropping it. “We’ll get there when we get there, whatever this place is.” Millie smiled gratefully, agreeing, and Jaz plastered the biggest and fakest smile onto her face in return.

She spent that whole evening stewing in her anger. She made idle chit-chat during dinner and helped set up their camp afterwards, spreading their sleeping bags out in the field. Except she didn’t sleep. She laid there, letting time pass her by as Milo and Millie dropped off, their breaths evening and becoming slow and steady around her. And then she made her move.

Jaz climbed out of her sleeping bag, cringing with every crinkle of the material and crunch of the leaves and grasses around her, and tiptoed to Millie’s bag. It was a nice bag, much nicer than Jaz and Milo’s, and it was with apprehension that Jaz opened it. She had no idea what she would find inside, but she was kind of imagining an array of weapons or a severed head or something.

Instead, she found clothes, a few bags of nuts and berries, and a crown. Jaz’s thought process was something like, yep, yep, okay, sure. A crown. Nice.

And then her heart was shooting up into her throat, surely beating loudly enough to wake both Milo and Millie, because WHAT? Millie had the crown?! She’d had it all along?! What the hell was going on?

Jaz was a mix of emotions, all tangled and confusing inside her. Anger and betrayal warred in her stomach. Despite everything, she’d actually grown to like Millie. She’d started to consider her a friend, had even enjoyed her company when she wasn’t being annoying, and now she felt betrayed. Millie was up to something. Maybe something evil.

Part of Jaz — a huge part, to be honest — wanted to grab the crown, wake Milo, and book it. It was the kind of betrayal Millie deserved, after leading them on whatever wild goose chase this was. But the rest of Jaz wanted answers. She wanted to know why. And it was because of this part of her — curse her stubborn love for dramatics! — that she yanked the crown out of the bag, stood upright, and demanded, “What the hell, Millie?!”

Millie woke up immediately. As did Milo, with an unrefined, “Wha — !?”

It was obvious to see Millie’s panic as her gaze shot from the crown to Jaz’s face and back again.

“Oh my God!” Milo suddenly burst out. “You found the crown!” And then, almost as an afterthought, “Am I dreaming?”

“No, Milo, you’re not dreaming,” Jaz said shortly. “Millie tricked us. She had the crown all along.”

“It’s not what you think,” Millie said immediately, pleadingly, and Jaz scoffed.

“What was the point of all this?” she asked. “Why even get Milo and me to come with you in the first place? Where were you even taking us?”

“To the castle!” Millie said, sounding desperate now. She gestured into the distance, the same direction they’d been headed, but Jaz wasn’t sure she believed her. It wasn’t like she knew the kingdom very well, especially on the ground instead of looking down at a map.

“A likely story,” Jaz scoffed. “And just what —” she was interrupted by the sound of people crashing through the forest, only a small ways from where their camp was set up.

“Get down!” Millie suddenly said, her voice a whisper-shout. Jaz didn’t feel very inclined to listen to a liar, but Millie shot to her feet and pulled Jaz to the ground just in time, hiding the two of them in the midst of all the tall grasses of the field.

Milo was only a little ways from them, but his eyes were wide and he looked worried. Millie gestured for him to stay where he was, before putting a finger to her lips. She was a liar. She’d had the crown all along. But still, Jaz couldn’t help but trust her in that moment, when the far-off voices were becoming less far-off, growing louder and angrier the closer they got.

“I heard voices, I swear!” one person — a man, it sounded like — growled.

“Then where are they?” another person asked.

“Probably in the field somewhere,” another answered.

Then came the sounds of three pairs of footsteps stomping through the field. And with the sound of their footsteps, the unmistakable clink of — armor? But who would wear armor other than the King’s Guard?

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” one man sang. Jaz could hear their footsteps getting louder. Millie looked frightened.

When the men got so close Jaz was afraid they were in danger of getting stepped on, Millie seemed to brace herself before standing straight up. Jaz, despite her earlier anger at Millie, followed, jumping up and stepping in front of her, for some reason. Probably because she was brave. Super brave.

Milo, because he’d always been a good follower, followed. He, too, jumped to his feet, and he fought and struggled through weeds clinging to his feet to stand beside Jaz, also in front of Millie.

And Jaz wasn’t afraid to say that she was kind of in shock. Before her were three, fully outfitted members of the King’s Guard, equipped with armor and swords and the whole shebang. Just what was going on?

“Step away from the Princess,” one man said, glowering at them, and all the thoughts dropped out of Jaz’s head. For a second, she thought incredulously, who?

And then: “Stand down.” It was Millie who said it, and for some weird reason, the guards listened to her. They stepped back and stopped looking quite so terrifying.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Milo said, but Jaz refused to let him come to the realization before she did. It was because of this that she turned around, gaping at Millie.

“You’re the Princess?!” she spluttered, and Millie — Princess Amelia — smiled a guilty little smile.

“Surprise?”

“You’re to return to the castle at once, Princess,” one of the guards spoke up. “Your father orders it.”

Millie crossed her arms. “They’re coming with me,” she said, gesturing to Jaz and Milo. Oh, great, Jaz thought. We’re getting arrested.

“Princess —”

“They found the crown,” Millie said sternly.

“You stole the crown!” one of the guards burst out angrily. Millie just stuck her nose up, looking off to the side.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.

Jaz, who was in a state of shock so severe she was considering sitting down, looked at Milo. He appeared to be feeling similarly, and as she watched, he continually mouthed the word ‘Princess?’ to himself.

Jaz became aware of the voices still talking somewhere around her and had to force herself to tune back in. “— found the crown fair and square, so it’ll be her that I marry. That is, if she agrees?”

Millie was looking at Jaz expectantly and Jaz scrambled to keep up, to remember what they were talking about, and — oh. OH.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah I agree, um. Yeah.” Jaz couldn’t help remembering how she’d ranted to Millie — the Princess! — about how great the Princess was. God, this was twisted. And embarrassing. She was never going to live this down.

Then, past the layers of embarrassment and confusion and general slow, jelly-like thoughts, Jaz realized her heart was pounding away with excitement. She was marrying the Princess. Sure, it’s what she’d set out to do, but so rarely did her plans go anything other than awry.

And Jaz, because she never admitted to her mistakes if she could help it, turned to Milo with a smirk. “I told you this plan was a great one.”

Milo scoffed, throwing his hands into the air. “You didn’t even find the crown! It found you!” he protested, but Jaz wasn’t listening. She was too busy thinking of the future, of long afternoons spent in the castle’s gardens and even longer nights spent dragging Millie through the city’s streets in search of a real adventure.