Winter Encounter

[Sola]

Frost 50 4622

Luna was walking along a road one cold winter morning. She was travelling alone, though she could see travelers in either direction so she wasn’t too worried about getting caught up in some kind of crime. It was a fairly common path so bad guys probably didn’t spend too much time there. She was dressed warmly in her winter clothes which were just thick enough to keep her warm without making her sweaty as she trekked along the road.

Luna did not often travel these kinds of roads. Since moving to Tilema, she’d stuck to the busier parts of the city. However, she was in search of real estate and so far she hadn’t found anything that she could actually afford. As she walked, her mind raced with potential solutions to the issue she was facing. She had been searching for the perfect plot of land to buy for weeks and had yet to find the right place. She knew she wanted a plot of land that was large enough to build the workshop of her dreams, but she was running out of options. She was beginning to realize that if she wanted to acquire or build a workshop of any kind it was going to have to be in a more rural area.

Luna slipped off her longbow which she’d been carrying on her back. It was already strung as it usually was for her short trips to this sort of area. She had no intention of shooting anyone. Instead, she placed it on the ground and leaned against it to help rest her legs. She would’ve sat down but she didn’t want her butt to get cold. She also pulled out some bread and munched on it to help build up enough energy to make it back home.

[Arthur]

Frost 50 4622
Traversing through the grand backdrop of Vestrian terrain through to the city of Tilema, Arthur walked purposefully down the well trodden pathways with the intention of gaining more work. It had been a while since Arthur had gotten anything well paid. He inhaled a sharp breath and took in the atmosphere. He wanted to remember, remember the hearty aroma of pine that filled his nostrils as the sun rolled over the hill to welcome the light of day, that spread it's light over the morning mist and onto the treetops. A reprieve against the ache of his muscles and chaffing of leather against his legs after a long journey that had yet to continue.

Where the roads converged, so too did the travellers that walked from afar to reach this marvel of architecture. Ahead of him, Arthur could see one such stranger, a smaller woman with elegantly dressed with long dark hair, soft features and piercing blues eyes leant againt her longbow as she enjoyed a bite of bread. Arthur's face lifted into a merry expression, it had been a few days since he had human companionship.

"Good Morning!" he called out making his approach, "What is a fine woman like yourself doing in a place like this?"

Up close he could see her could see the context of her face, she was a pretty little thing and from her appearance guessed that she was fairly young. A momentary look of concern flickered across his face as his eyes darted across the empty pathway, a woman alone on a road in a land filled with bandits in thievery sounded like asking for trouble.

[Sola]

Who's This?

Luna had learned years ago to be wary of people that she met while out and about, especially when she wasn’t in the city. Sure, there was the odd fellow here and there who meant no ill will, but usually the people who would approach her were interested in selling something to her, robbing her, or fucking. So, when the olive skinned man approached her, Luna didn’t really know what to think.

“Good morning!” she called out, a little more cheerily than she felt. She was a socialite at heart. She wanted to like people, to believe they meant no harm. That being said, she stepped to the side and lifted her bow so she was holding it in her dominant hand. Her other hand hovered above her quiver at her hip but she didn’t look like she was going to shoot at him just for saying hello. It was just a precaution. Besides, it often took her a minute or more to properly fire an arrow with decent accuracy. If someone really wanted to harm her then all they really had to do was charge at her, and Arthur was likely capable of doing.

“I’m just wandering about, looking at property. How about yourself?” she felt her hand twitch instinctively but she fought the urge to knock an arrow. She told herself to just be cool, despite her adrenaline pumping. This was the second stranger that had approached her today though, and the first had merely been looking for directions so she managed to calm herself enough to drop her free hand to her side.

As Luna listened for a response, she couldn’t help but notice two horses riding aggressively fast in the distance. She cocked her head to one side as the horses charged at some people walking along the path far down the path. She saw some people draw bows, and she was certain arrows were shot. It all happened so fast, but she was fairly certain that someone had just gotten robbed. It made her tense up.

“They just got robbed!” she shouted as she pointed behind Arthur.

[Arthur]

Met with a mixture of cheer and caution, Arthur's eyes followed the woman's hand as he wondered if this was a fear response. Would it have been better to mention that he just wanted to say hello to someone after travelling alone for three days? Or leave it alone. Probably leave it alone. His gaze returned to meet the stranger with a knowing smile "Property huh? I'm just looking to secure some work in the big city. Do some drinking. Probably make some dumb decisions," he joked, grinning from ear to ear "who knows, maybe i'll find some prince in desperate need of companionship, save him from a fate of betrayal from his rich family and wander with him in return for coi-"

A commotion sounded from behind him, a pair of riders picking off a couple of people from the road. He turned toward the commotion and heard the woman he had been talking to yell robbery from behind him. They couldn't out run a horse, but he could maybe shoot one of the guys down from this distance. Unslinging his longbow from his back, Arthur haphazardly fumbled for a few seconds with nocking an arrow. He didn't have a lot of time, there was no way that bandits would stop at riding down just two travellers on the road.

Pointedly facing away from Luna, Arthur took aim at the moving target with his shot and pulled back the string, hoping that he wouldn't miss the rider of one of the two horses that had charted a course for their direction. If the two of them worked together, they might just make it. He would have to rely on her now. "Shit," he muttered, pulled back on the arrow and released. The arrow went arching off into the air and he could only hope that it remained true the course he had intended.

[Sola]

Arrow!

Luna didn’t intentionally ignore Arthur. She actually heard him loud and clear and tucked what he’d said into the back of her mind to address later. For the time being, however, they had more pressing matters to attend to. She hadn’t expected things to happen so quickly. When she’d saw people get presumably robbed, the first thought in her head was to make a run for it. That’s what everyone else did that heard her shouting. A quick glance over her shoulder told her as much. But there was something in Luna that kept her from running away. It was a feeling, something that pushed her forward, to help out those people. She didn’t know why, but she knew that if she didn’t act, no one else would.

So, with a surge of newfound courage, Luna stepped forward, and with a trembling voice, she shouted at the robbers. She didn’t say anything in particular, it was just a roar of anger, as if she could intimidate them from such a large distance. She was scared, and her voice was shaking, but she was determined to do something.

The olive skinned man decided to shoot an arrow, which Luna thought was the right idea. She fumbled with her bow and shot her own arrow, though hers was so inaccurate that it thudded into a tree, nowhere near the robbers. Her damned nerves had gotten to her. She’d thought that the chance of hitting the innocent people was far too high for and she forced herself to redirect her arrow to the side. Arthur’s arrow, however, sailed right through the air and embedded itself into the side of a horse that made it throw its front legs into the air in panic. It was an impressive shot, if not a lucky one.

The rider was tossed off the horse and the horse bolted off into the distance. The other robber was torn between helping his friend and getting revenge. Had the arrow not hit, then they might have been content with riding off to their hiding spot but now they were forced to make hard decisions. The remaining rider chose revenge. He rode fast and hard at the pair of bow wielding strangers. Luna knew she couldn’t possibly fire an arrow fast or accurately enough so she tossed her bow to the side and ran to the side where there was a row of trees which she hoped to use as cover if worst came to worst. Her last resort was magic, but she certainly wasn’t going to use it when there were witnesses. As far as she could tell they hadn’t seriously injured the other people they robbed, then again they hadn’t shot at em.

[Arthur]

Luna had screamed in a fit of rage and Arthur cursed as he watched his arrow embedd itself into the side of beautiful bay painted horse that was running their way. Sure it had hit something, but not the target he had intended. His eyes followed the horse's direction as it bolted, he would have to try to tend to the animal later. In his folly, the horse had distracted the young mercenary from the danger at hand. His eyes caught the last glimpse of his femanine companion as she darted off into the trees, leaving him alone out in the open. What about the other people? He didn't have time to worry about it now.

Charging foward with a scimitar bared in his right hand, the bandit rider rode swiftly toward him atop of a birdled, chocolate stallion. Arthur looked frantically back and forth toward the other rider who was crawling across the floor toward his sword and his assailant. He had an idea. Any meat shield was better than no shield at all. Awkwardly breaking into a run from his crouched position, Arthur darted over to the rider and swung the upper limb of his bow like a club into the side of the man's head. "Sorry mate," he muttered, as he discarded his bow to the floor and wrapped one arm around the man's shoulder. While his other arm grabbed an arrow from his quiver and shifted it between his hands. There was no time. His fingers wrapped around the arrows shaft and pressed the tip against the unconcious bandits neck. Death was far more final than broken bones.

The blood rushed to his head, he could barely hear the sound of the rider's angry cries or the stallion's hooves crashing against the earth over the sound of his own heartbeat. The horse was closing in on him. This was a gamble, whether the rider would fall for his bluff or charge at his friend anyway. Little did he know Luna had her own plans.

[Sola]

Don't Move!

The bandit cursed in frustration as his friend was taken captive by the crafty Arthur. He wished he could have the power to have his horse charge through Arthur and put an end to his life, but he was powerless and could not risk his friend's life. His only hope was to find a way to outsmart Arthur. His eyes turned to Luna who was running into the trees and bushes. He’d seen Luna and Arthur together so his initial thought was to go grab Luna and hold her hostage. Then he could offer to trade hostages and maybe even kill the two bow users if they were stupid enough to trust him.

The bandit ran towards the trees and he dismounted to chase Luna by foot. “Where are you, bitch?” he hissed as he pushed through some bushes.

Luna wasn’t very sneaky. She was standing behind a tree not too far away and the bandit could hear her subconscious whimpers. She was weaponless, but not powerless. That didn’t stop her from feeling like things could go very horribly wrong.

“I can hear you,” the bandit said as he tried to pinpoint the sound. He drew his blade and started creeping around, checking behind every tree and looking for her footprints in the snow. He didn’t know that Luna was unarmed, which was why he was being somewhat cautious.

Luna could hear the unmistakable sound of a weapon being drawn and she shuddered. “Be confident,” she told herself as she heard him coming nearer. She focused on getting her magical powers going, and then she leapt out of her cover and pointed right at the bandit. The bandit was taken by surprise and he jumped a little. Then his eyes grew wide as he saw some weird purple crystalline magic form before his very eyes. He dropped his weapon and turned to run but this was hardly terrain he could move easily through.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Luna said as she enveloped his body with her purple magic and slowed him down. She could have stopped him dead in his tracks if she’d wanted to but she didn’t think it was worth using that much energy. As the bandit feebly tried to push his way back through the bushes, Luna swept the sword up from the ground. Luna awkwardly aligned the sword with the bandit’s neck before slashing it. It was a very poor cut due to Luna’s inexperience and one that the bandit was likely to suffer from for several minutes before bleeding out.

Luna let out a deep sigh as she let her magic fade away. She looked around carefully and was fairly confident that nobody could have possibly spotted her. The only one who might have been able to would be Arthur if he’d followed them into the trees. Luna grabbed the bandit’s coin purse and sword and brought them with her to go meet back up with Arthur, assuming he was still by the road.

She’d wave to him and ask, “Are you alright?”

[Arthur]

Leverage had worked to briefly save Arthur’s life, the rider chose to spare his friend and instead pursue the stranger that had ducked into the trees. Today had just gotten way weirder than he thought, as he suspected they had not succeeded to capture or kill the whole clan of the bandits the guild had hunted just a few weeks prior. It appeared they had left the faction desperate. Stealing for small hauls in tiny numbers like this was not what he had known to be their style.

Frustrated, the archer settled the body carefully at his feet, picked up the weapons on the floor and leapt into the trees. “Over here!” he cried and rushed past the twigs and brush that scraped against his skin. For all he knew he was far too late, but he had to try.

He found them, but a moment too late. A sword in mid air swiped at the bandit's throat and splashes of blood poured from the man's neck. Wide eyed Arthur ran to the man as he dropped to his knees “NO!” Arthur cried, cradling the man’s head as blood spilt across his leather. Sorrow passed over Arthur’s face stare at him with horror and malice “I’m sorry you’re suffering.”

Arthur didn't dare to look away. Nobody deserved to die alone. As the life faded from the man's eyes, Arthur's said a prayer for the man to have an easy journey across to the next.

Acceptance settled on arthur's bloodied face. This was the natural order of life, doing what was right for it.

The stranger waved over to him and entered the clearing. “Oh hey. You’re okay,” he mustered mirth back onto his visage and laughed “I’m alive. Look at me now though, a bloody red mess. If only it were wine.” His eyes darted around the scene and saw the bloody red blade in Luna's hand. The woman had killed him. That glass of wine sounded like it would be good right about now.

There were more pressing matters that had to be attended to. With not so much more of a whisper Arthur stepped with caution, daring to wander past Luna toward the Stallion. There was a slim chance the creature would respond, but he had to try. He removed a ration from his pack and held it out to the animal as a peace offering. The stallion didn’t take it. Angry at the sight of its master’s blood splattered across the human's visage, the horse reared up and charged.

“Shit,” the mercenary anticipation had only narrowly allowed hin to vault into a dodge toward a nearby tree. He needed to get the hell out but where was he going to go? Luna was in the clear, but his troubles were far from over. It charged again. He ran it around a tree in the hopes of confusing the animal.

Arthur continued this rhythm until he noticed the horse struggling to navigate varying levels of terrain he had been jumping over. He had intended to use this to his advantage, but his stamina was running out and his vaults finally faultered. Tripped by a branch that was a little too high, he smacked onto the floor and much to his surprise, there was very little pain. Adrenaline was one heck of a drug. His eyes darted upward to the horse that approached over the branch he attempted to jump. It fumbled on it, cross over the higher ground. He had but one choice, to bore it to death.

The moment it managed to cross, Arthur would roll beneath the branch evoking a frustrated neigh from the proud pony and occasionally a close attempt at a bit from beneath it. "Yeah I'm an asshole, I know."

“Help?!” the man half yelled, half laughed through a fit of pain breath as he rolled back and forth beneath the branch. He was going nuts. Playing a game of dangerous tag with a stallion in the hope that it will get bored and leave a stranger alone had not been his idea of how this day would go.

[Sola]

Helpless

Luna didn’t really want to kill the bandit but she had little choice in the matter. He’d witnessed her using magic and she was happy to kill anyone who knew her secret. The only exception to that rule of hers had been Ford, who she believed hadn’t told anyone given how she was still a free woman. Alas, blood was now on her hands and clothes, much to the dismay of Arthur who seemed to care a lot about the life of the bandit.

“Yes, I’m okay. We really ought to get out of here before more trouble finds us,” Luna said to Arthur. They had little time to chat though because the horse came running at them. Luna dove to the side and was thankful that the horse chose to chase Arthur instead. She doubted she could have done anything against the horse, even if she used all her magical might. A horse was simply far too heavy, and to catch it mid charge was just laughable.

Luna poked her head up and looked to where Arthur had run and then followed. It kind of looked like Arthur had fallen and the horse was trying to kill him. Luna wanted to help, but she didn’t really know what she could even do. She didn’t know the first thing about calming down a horse. So, she shouted, “can anyone help us!?” while she threw sticks and rocks at the horse to try distracting it.

Surely, given enough time, someone would make their way to them… but there was no way of telling what state Arthur would be in at that point.

[Malikyth]

♅ 50th of Frost, Year 4622, A.o.I ♅

Company: Arthur & Luna | Thoughts: How did this happen? | Mood: Curious

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♅ Malikyth had been along the countryside, patrolling the farmlands as a request from one of the local lords, as bandits seemed to be present and attacking them and the people. The mage was fairly used to these kinds of jobs by this point and any task that took him out and into the country was ok in his eyes. He was on his way back to the city when a shrill, no a cry for help rang in his ears. It was a man's voice, and he wasn't too far from where Malikyth was now. Wasting no time he ran towards the desperate call for help. He prayed that he wasn't too late, that whatever or whoever was after the man hadn't killed him yet.

Upon his arrival, he could see what seemed to be a rabid horse chasing a man, and though he was fitting back laughter, he knew how deadly being trampled by a horse could be. Materializing his dual swords, he ran into action. He had to get close enough so that he could take the horse in one fell swoop. He could see it was pissed, and calming it would take too much time and could cause both of them to get hurt in the process. He instead opted to kill it. He put all of his energy into running directly into the path of the man and the horse, that way when the man passed him he could slice at the horse's throat.

However animals are faster than one would think, and he just barely managed to catch the beast in its hind legs, one of his blades burying itself deep into the horse's thigh, dragging Malikyth along with it. "This is what I get for trying to be helpful." he hissed to himself as he managed his way onto the saddle of the steed. "Forgive me." He whispered as his blades bit into both sides of the horse's neck causing it to immediately collapse.

Because of that, Malikyth found himself flung from the horse and rolling across the grassy field. Taking in a breath he lay there for a moment to catch his breath before getting to his feet. Surprisingly he recognized the man that called for help. It was the archer from that patrol mission a while back. "Do I even wanna know why you are being chased by a horse?" he questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose. ♅

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"Common Speech"
"Mor'drub Speech"
"Silvain Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"