//------------------------------//
// Paranoia Drives the Mind 
// Story: The Changeling King Part 2: Kings' Gambit 
// by th3l0stch1ld 
//------------------------------//

`	Amor loved the scenery in the woods around his camp, but that didn’t mean he would ever let his guard down.  To hold off on drawing attention, Amor would travel disguised as a deer.  Simple enough, but still very believable.  Running through the forest looking for anything that could be useful, Amor kept his eyes open.  The stuff he was looking for grew in spaces where the sun could hit the ground.  He found what he was looking for almost a mile south of the camp, near the edge of the forest.
Amor revealed his true form and gathered as much as he could fit, packing his armor and mouth full.  When he was finally satisfied, and sure that he couldn’t carry anymore, Amor turned back.  A green flame lit at his hooves as he, along with anything he was wearing or carrying, was transformed back into a deer, all except the straw in his mouth.  Moving like the animal he chose, Amor traveled through the woods in long, jump-like strides, reaching the camp in minutes.  He was out of breath when he stepped back in, but was surprised to hear the camp, silent.  He revealed himself once more.  Amor managed to slip in between two of the tents, being his own and the one beside it, belonging to Avispa and Escara.  He wasn’t exactly sneaking, but when his front hoof took its first step within the camp boundaries, something shot out from the tent to his right, bit down on his leg, and quickly flipped him onto the ground in one flawless move.  The straw in his mouth scattered, making it impossible to gather again.
“Ow.”  The attacker jumped on top of Amor and drew a sword, holding it to his throat.
“Alright, who are you and what are you doing here?”
“What?”  He felt the tip of the blade dig into his neck.
“Do not test me.”
“Former king Amor, leader of this squad.”
“Alright then, what’s on your flank?”
“A mended heart.”
“And who am I?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Amor shifted his vision enough to see a bulky changeling on top of him wearing a black breast plate and a navy blue helmet.  Amor rolled his eyes.  “You are Escara, my second in command beside Avispa.”  The sword was removed from Amor’s neck, giving him back the ability to move his head.
“S-sorry sir.”
“Okay.  Now you should have expected this after that, but WHY THE HELL DID YOU DRAW ON ME LIKE THAT!?”
“Safety precaution.  You said yourself there could be spies among us.  I heard a flame quickly burn out from behind my tent and saw a changeling.  I thought someone was impersonating you.”
“Okay…”
“I…didn’t hurt you bad, did I?”
“No.  Luckily I just got back from gathering straw for my ‘bed’, so my armor was packed full.  My fall was cushioned.”
“Good, good.  Sorry again, sir, but please tell me next time you go out.”
“It’s alright.  I guess this sort of was my fault anyways.  What else should I have expected after spreading my paranoia like a disease and aimlessly wandering through the woods?”
“May I ask why exactly you decided to head out?”
“Because you took my only quill.”
Escara looked puzzled.  “Come again, sir?”
“You didn’t hear wrong.  I was going to record the information from Baltimare, but you took my quill to list down our soldiers.  I got bored, so I decided to take a walk.”
“R-right.  By the way, here’s that list.”  Escara pulled a rolled up sheet of paper out of his armor and gave it to Amor, who took it in a magical hold.  As the paper began to emanate a green aura, it unrolled and Amor read over it.
“Let’s see.  Avispa, Escara, Vida, dadadadada… alright, looks good.  Thank you, Escara.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”  Amor rolled up the paper and tucked under his armor with the added stuffing as Escara nodded and trotted off.  “I put everything back where it belongs.”
“Thank you,” Amor called back as he turned to enter his tent.  Once inside, he set the list down on the table, removed his armor, and emptied it out over his pile in the corner.  Setting the back plate down beside it, he walked over to the table, where he set his helmet.  He looked over at the quill hanging out of the inkwell sitting next to the maps, right where Escara said it would be.  It floated out of the ink as the map from the Baltimare camp unrolled.  Copying the exact location, Amor marked the same spot on his map.  Replacing the quill, Amor looked out the gaping hole in the wall he used as a door.  “I really feel like putting some sort of door there.  I’m no carpenter, I mean I built the table out of sticks and wax, so…cloth?”  Amor began babbling to himself as he wandered outside.  “But where would you get cloth from, you idiot?  Leaves maybe?  Yeah, like that would work.  Think of something else, stupid.”  Amor stopped in his tracks as he realized what he was saying to himself.  “Gotta love my encouraging ego.  I need to stop doing this.”
“I’d say.”
Amor whipped around to see Avispa behind him, his helmet nowhere to be found.  “Eh, how long have you been listening?”
“Since you got out of the tent.  Kinda hard to ignore when I’m set up right next to you.”
“…okay?  So, anything to report?”
“Just an issue.”
“And what would that be?”
“Well, with all the notes and information being sent back and forth, who’s to say the messengers aren’t being attacked and replaced somewhere in between?”
Amor picked up a hoof and began tapping his chin in thought.  “That is an issue…”
“And if the enemy happens to come across anything important, like say, a map of our camps, maybe a list of how many soldiers are in each, it could spell disaster, chaos, destruction, need I keep going?”
“No, no, that’s quite enough.  How’s this: whenever a messenger returns, we hold them and send our own in return.  They disguise themselves as, say, I don’t know, an eagle or something, when they deliver the message.  Good?”
“Good enough.  I see no other way around it.”
“Well, it’s not like Hornet is going around shooting down everything he sees, thinking something is a changeling.”
“Good point.”
“Is that all?”
“For now.”
“Good, dismissed.”  The changeling nodded and took his leave.  Amor looked up at the blue sky littered with white clouds that blocked the sun.  “How many more times today?”
Amor heard a call from the distance.  “Hopefully none!”
Amor sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Thank you, Avispa.”  He began grumbling to himself as he walked away.  “Is nothing private anymore?”
“I Gu-“
“Avispa!”
“Sorry sir…”