//------------------------------//
// Chapter III: Keep Your Friends Close... 
// Story: Junker's Travels 
// by JunkerRabbit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter III


Keep Your Friends Close...



Junker turned bitterly towards Hazel, his teeth grinding heavily, and a crazed look in his eyes as he panted furiously. "You," he growled, "You did this to me! You tricked your leader, and now I'm stranded so far from my garden I'll NEVER get back!" His voice steadily rose until he was shouting.

The word "back" echoed into the sunset-tinted, empty mountainside and stayed there. Even the wind seemed to stop howling to give a feeling of utter emptiness for the three critters.

Alder frowned. The last thing the three of them needed was tension between them. "Listen, Junker, we need to -"

"YOU ARE MY SUBJECT," Junker snapped. "YOU WILL REFER TO ME AS KING JUNKER."

"Actually, you have no power here," Alder pointed out. "No body guards, no throne, no nothing." Alder leaned in closer and smiled ever so slightly as he said, "Out here, you and I are equals."

Junker away, flustered and furious with the back talk. "Why you little - EXILE! YOU ARE OFFICIALLY EXILED! GUARDS!" Junker called for his always-loyal guards. The wind still wasn't howling, so the command reverberated into empty space for no one else to hear. Hazel let out a giggle. What was so funny? The guards should be at Junker's side whenever he called them, and there were no . . .

Realization hit Junker in the face like a cruel, cold slap of rain. Junker had no one but these two. He needed to stop forgetting that. Hazel burst out laughing when she saw his face of frustration. Alder nervously tried to calm her down, and said, "You see? Now, if we want to survive, we're going to need to stick together. Power in numbers, after all." He gave a grin, hoping Junker would agree, hoping for once in his life he would see reason to something.

"Forget it!" Junker protested. Alder needed to stop hoping his king would see reason in anything.

Hazel looked at her older brother, who looked back and nodded. "Okay!" she said cheerfully. The two of them started to walk away, leaving Junker to fend for himself.

Junker didn't need them. Junker would be fine on his own!



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Junker was not fine on his own. It had only been a few hours and Junker was already starving. His body had grown used to having huge amounts of food, and with no food, he was getting hungry fast. The air howled and whistled through the many hollow caverns made by the train tracks, upon which the occasional train would rocket past, bringing a fast, rhythmic thundering through the mountain. Junker sighed heavily as his stomach growled.

"That stupid little squirrel," Junker grumbled, "What was her name? Hazel? Her and her brother, throwing their glorious king out of his own kingdom to kill him, and then left him to die when he refused to fall into another one of their traps. If I ever get back -" Junker paused. Did he just say if? No, he must stay positive. "When I get back to the garden, I will make sure they are executed publicly! And that blasted bird as well!"

His motivational speech was cut slightly short by a train that ran along the tracks from Canterlot in the opposite direction. However, this train was different from the others that had passed along. This one contained . . .

"FOOD!" Junker shouted aloud. "Sweet, glorious FOOD!" She ran after the train. He knew that staying confident would pay off! If he followed the train, he could find where it was going, and get that food and more! There was just one problem.

Junker's stomach growled loudly to remind him that he needed food now. He wouldn't be able to chase the fast-moving train in this condition. He needed to get his energy up.

Junker groaned when the only option he had that would work in his favor hit him. He ran in the direction Hazel and Alder had gone, hoping it wasn't too late.



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"Are you sure we did the right thing?" Hazel asked her older brother, best friend and now travel companion as they walked through the brightly-colored forest of oranges and reds from both the coming of winter and the beautiful sunset that was showing its last minutes. It had been a few hours since the two of them had abandoned their former king Junker to fend for himself, after he refused to take their help. "I kind of feel bad for him. I mean, this mess is just as much our fault as it is his."

Alder grumbled, "You should have considered that BEFORE telling him about the Elements. Besides, we're going to help him. He just has to prove humble enough first. He will. Just give him time."

Hazel's face turned red from shame. "I'm really sorry, big brother," She started to cry. "I just wanted to make the garden a better place. I didn't think it through. I thought that if I could get rid of Junker, you'd be proud of me." She burst fully into tears and buried herself in Alder's fur.

Alder felt awful. "Hey, don't be like that," He said soothingly, "I AM proud of who you are, and I love everything about you." Ever since their parents died, Hazel and Alder had had many little spats. They had been becoming more frequent, and Alder realized he might have been giving off the vibe that he hated his sister. This was far from true. Hazel was Alder's world; his last shred of innocence and happiness in the bleak world of the garden. He wouldn't want anything to happen to her. "Come on, we have to find some food and shelter for the night."

"Um . . . Mind if I help . . . ?" Junker peeked out from one of the nearby bushes sheepishly. He pleaded they would let him.

Alder smiled. "Told ya," He said to his little sister, who was still buried in his fur, stained with tears. Told her what? Junker wondered. His attention snapped back to Alder when he spoke up. "Yes, you can stay with us, but before we make this official, I'd like to set some ground rules."

Junker grimaced. He didn't like the sound of that. Alder stepped forward, looking Junker dead in the eye. He started to speak, sounding very stern, which irritated Junker.

"One: There are three of us, so we vote on decisions and majority wins." Junker already didn't like where this was going. He started to interject, but Alder continued, not phased by him.
"Two: We are a group. We stick together, eat together, sleep together, and don't leave each other behind.
Three: We share the food, and everything else for that matter, EQUALLY between the three of us.
Four: There will come a time for us to part ways. Splitting up will be a unanimous decision, and we stick together until we all agree it's safe."

Junker knew he would have to abide by these rules if he wanted to survive. He stuck out his paw and shook Alder's. "Agreed," He said reluctantly.


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