Atharen, A Fantasy Roleplay Forum

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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.

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.

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.

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.