Eagle in the Barn During a Storm (Memory, Andros)

[Miki]

24 Searing 4614 ▄︻字═━──

Looking to the plate Andros had tossed high in the air, she would be lying if she didn't find it a bit penitent after Andros insisted she didn't use the red clay plates from her personal items to practice target shooting. She it the plate with a loud bang that would ring in their ears had she not had them stuff their ears with sheep's wool. It wasn't a huge fight but they had agreed to disagree and she even convinced him to toss the plates for her so she could practice shooting, she decided then she would teach him how. Lining up her shot was the hardest part, shooting a moving target was difficult with something like her arquebus. She had to reload each time she wanted to take a shot and also practiced getting faster doing that. The final thing she practiced was her draw. Setting her gun at rest she would grab it quickly and shoot once it was loaded. Miki would explain to Andros what she was doing, she spoke with the authority of a leader.
"Aul'right. These boys don't know nothing unless you teach em, do they? Don't know nuthin'."
She would start, spitting tobacco on the ground as she packed her gun.
"Lemme tell ya, first thing ya need to do is pack your gun with the fun stuff. This here is gun powder, potent shit. Made from something, don't ask me what. Next thing, you'll throw or I'll throw the plate in the air and the idea is you wanna pull this trigger,"
Miki turns the loaded gun around in her hand like a toy, not a dangerous weapon she may or may not have murdered people with,
"and aim it as close to center at the plate as you can."
She would grin at him and get her stance,
"Well throw!"
He would throw the disc in the air and she would take her shot again, blowing the thing into pieces and dust.
"It's called a gun, of course, this kinds'a arquebus. Fine piece of tech, I couldn't do better myself."
Adding the last part a bit cryptically.
"Would you like to try? There are three plates left, I can throw them for you? Surely I can borrow your plates. And clay isn't shy in the Badlands. I can get plenty in trade back home."
She would grin like a fox, looking at and into him with her yellow eyes while grinning. She felt bad still about their argument but wanted to reassure him it would be okay.

[Andros]

o----(::::::::::>

The noise scared Andros, not to mention his animals. Everything about the gun scared Andros - the smoke, the fire, the way it was just so unnatural, even though it was also fascinating and beautiful in its own way. Well, MIki was fascinating and beautiful (when she wasn’t chewing tobacco) and a little frightening in her way too, so that seemed appropriate.

Nerves are why Andros made his lame objection about not wanting to waste her plates. He didn’t want the gun to come out. He’d have been happier chatting in the cart. But once he realized Miki was digging in her heels and they were going to have an actual argument, he gave way quickly.

When he watched Miki use the weapon in the light of day, it looked much more difficult than when she had effortlessly saved his life back at the tavern. Aiming didn’t look easy, not at all. The gun was clumsy compared to a bow and slow to reload. The recoil seemed to wrench Miki’s shoulder every time, and Andros winced alongside her. He was impressed that she not only kept at it but hit her target every time.

Andros was prepared if not excited to take a turn. He’d suspected she’d offer when she brought the thing out. His impulse to do better than a girl at something involving combat was butting up against the reality that he knew nothing about this complicated piece of equipment. He considered bluffing and just going for it, but that seemed like a good way to get his head blown off so would let Miki show him the steps.

“I’d love to try, yes,” he said with more bravado than he felt. “Let me aim for a target the first time. That tree should work. Can you show me how to aim and hold it right? I can shoot a bow - poorly, but nothing like this.”

Created by Moop!

[Miki]

▄︻字═━──

The wind came through gusty and cold causing Miki to look to the skies, in the far off distance she could see a storm brewing. Dark clouds loomed in the distance above the treetops and the wind blustered straight for the pair, sending the storm their direction. Although she wasn't currently in the Badlands this put her on edge, thinking things about dust storms and madness. The moroi wouldn't mention it yet but shelter was beginning to be on her mind. Scanning her surroundings she noticed down the bend of the road a dilapidated barn stood sentinel. From her vantage point she could only see the corner of it through the trees, but it would seem to be some sort of old silo and barn pair likely forgotten. She was able to see it was in a state of disrepair and wondered what it was used for in the past being out here in the boonies alone. Any previous field or household stead was reclaimed by trees now, making the buildings quite old. Her attention came back to Andros who seemed unsure about the weapon, but asked for a stationary target rather than her flying red-clay plates.

"Ain't that for the best, yer right."
She found some chalk in her things and used it to mark the tree with a big X. Standing by the tree she felt nervous with him holding her gun,
"Don't point that thing at me yet!"
When she was again by his side she took full advantage of grabbing his waist, shoulders, and arms to aim them at the X. Miki told him sternly,
"What you're wantin' to do is to look down the barrel and aim the top lip of the front of the barrel at the middle of the X on that tree down there. Hold the gun hard and steady to your shoulder and keep them earplugs in as ya shoot, it's louder than Bel."
She laughed assuming he would be very confused, and watched with some glee as he eventually preformed the task. No matter if he hit or failed she would praise him,
"Ya ain't half bad... Maybe if shit hits the fan and my hands are tied up you might be able to use the gun here to save our asses. I know, we don't want to think maybe bad things will happen but Andros. You should understand something about me, I got this curse. Bad shit follows me, just like our meetin'-- seems like everyone wants a piece of me. Hope that doesn't mean they'll want a piece of you too, if we keep hangin' around each other."

Even despite all the fun Miki, at least, was having the weather eventually would catch up to them; swift winds bringing the Searing storm to dump its rain right on top of them. It would start as a few pitter-patters of rain at first and progress to a full blown downpour quickly. Miki would scramble and help Andros clean up his things, anything that needed put away, but let him tend to his livestock alone having no forte in animal handling.
"I think I seen a barn down the road, looks abandoned,"
She would point to the corner exposed from the bend, showing Andros where it is,
"Could put the sheep in there and maybe get out of the rain?"
She looked uncomfortable and was becoming more drenched by the minute, looking morose like a soaked crow.

[Andros]

o----(::::::::::>

The fact that Miki kept putting her hands on him made the screaming pain in Andros’ shoulder worth it. The recoil hurt a lot more than expected, but he couldn’t complain. He got off three shots before Miki called it and suggested they take cover in the barn. The first one missed the target but the second and third hit the X not too far from the center. Not bad for his first showing. He was feeling rather proud as he rubbed his shoulder and followed Miki towards the derelict old building.

It started to drizzle as they walked and they had to run the last few yards as big fat raindrops started to fall hard and fast. When the pair pushed open the barn door and slid in side, Andros was winded but laughing.
The shooting had been exhilarating - seeing MIki’s obvious talent as much as doing it himself.

“You were really something out there. With your aim you’re going to be running those badlands soon enough, I’d bet good money on it,” he told Miki with a smile.

The barn was more comfortable than expected. Plenty of clean straw around for bedding, and it didn’t smell. They could stay the night here if the storm didn’t pass. He’d have to go out and bring the sheep and the goods inside but he could take a break first.

Andros looked around for a pitchfork and didn’t find one. Who would abandon a useful farm implement? Failing that, he grabbed pile after pile of straw and stacked it up, then patted it down with his feet until it was firm and enough to serve as an ersatz couch. He took off his jacket and laid it down on top for what comfort that would provide his friend, then took his seat next to it. He patted his jacket on the straw, indicating she should join him.

“Come, let’s take a rest and wait out the storm. I like the sound of it here, the rain hitting the roof.”

If this hadn’t been such a pleasant situation, Andros would have paid more attention to the floorboard creaking in the hayloft above them. He noticed it, but chalked it up to wind or simply the shifting of an old building and paid it no mind.

Created by Moop!

[Miki]

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The downpour progressed to thunder and lightning. They were well within the confines of the barn when the show started. Miki hated the rain but she couldn't help stand by the barn door and watch the lightening. Something about it reminded her of Kornos, a forgotten memory of her childhood. The smell of baking bread not of this world wafted to her nose, then vanished instantly, the moment gone when Andros asked her to come rest with him. A comfortable silence went between them for a long time, listening to the gale outside; the open barn doors rattling with the thunder, a tree branch scraping against the side of the barn all the while a heavy rain fell upon the roof. It was mesmerizing. Rain for Miki was a double edged sword. In the Badlands it meant life sustaining water poured from the sky, a resource so scarce there the rain was like a gift from Muid. And yet, when it rained Miki couldn't help but feel a little bit sad. Looking at Andros she felt again the pangs of guilt, but decided to shake it off by scooting closer to him and sitting right beside him. The silence then became deafening as she looked at his blue eyes. Clearing her throat she said,

"Back there you told me I'd be runnin' the Badlands. Shoot. I wish... That's not what I wanted to talk about though, what if... I came to see you again? It couldn't be all the time but you could make me a map and show me your route, maybe when I have some time I could come spend it with you?"
She wondered if he really knew what he was talking about with the Badlands, if he understood what her life really was. Mercenary work, hard hours in a factory, murder, theft. In truth she was just the dark version of a solider, a woman with no flag but her own. The Halamire weren't all paragons working for good and while she tended to be wild she still had a heart and soul. Andros seemed to be a kind man himself, not someone who should be hanging around a woman like Miki. Could he feel something for her if he knew about her, truly?

Not knowing how to put what she felt about him into words, after she spoke she grabbed his hand and gently held it in her own. Her hands were rough on the palms but the fingers were long and girly, with beautiful red colored nails darker than her skin. She squeezed it and began to lean in for a kiss. That was when she noticed a shape looming behind him, many shapes in fact. A group of two men and a woman in Radenor garb had somehow snuck up on the pair and they didn't look the least bit friendly. Miki let out a gasp as one of the man grinned when they made eye contact. One man, the leader, spoke up,
"What do we have here, in our humble domicile? Trespassers?"
The woman spoke next,
"Looks like love birds. Like flies in a web or moths to a flame, didn't even have to leave for some grub."
That was when Miki felt someone grab her by the shoulders and lift her up forcefully, angrily, a fourth man had snuck up behind her and grabbed her. The first man spoke again.
"Give us your dranari and the little freak lady doesn't get hurt."
Somehow the pair had found themselves in the hideout of a group of bandits.

[Andros]

o----(::::::::::>

Everything was going so well. First Miki put her hands on Andros while she was showing him the gun, then she sat down next to him in the barn, seeming to enjoy his company. Andros loved just being near her, and he could tell she was feeling the same.

“You don’t have to ask, Miki,” he teased, gently. “I keep telling you I don’t want you to go. Travel with me as long as you want, visit me as often as you like. Or stay with me, be my business partner. We can buy a second cart, travel together with twice as much merchandise. It would be great.”

He was almost sure she was finally ready to go in for a kiss when they were interrupted, suddenly surrounded by a menacing group of thieves. Andros’ blood was already pumping from the situation he was in. When a man grabbed Miki roughly and hauled her to her feet, he was turned up to eleven. He wasn’t afraid, oddly. He was furious. Furious and full of energy. A big shot of adrenaline into the bloodstream will do that to a man.

The bandit who had his girl was as tall as he was ugly. Was Miki officially his girl? No. Not yet anyway, but don’t try telling him otherwise. Anyway, Andros was average sized in Teos but small in this land of blond giants. All three male bandits were a head taller than him, and the woman nearly the same. They looked rough though, skinny and ragged, like they weren’t eating regularly. Their clothes were torn. These were not successful thieves. Andros knew he could take any one of them, maybe two.

That still left three and four, unfortunately, but he didn’t care. Andros was not a violent person. He avoided fights. He settled disputes. But at the moment none of that mattered. He was enraged and hungry for combat.

A thought came to him, a memory of playing balls and pins in the town square with his grandfather. Pappa had shown him how to roll a ball into one pin so it would knock over another. It was an obvious strategy here, but such a silly memory to dwell on at a time like this. He laughed out loud, which seemed to unnerve the bandit. They looked at one another nervously and didn’t move as Andros got to his feet.

That was a mistake, because Andros moved fast. He took a step towards the bandits who stood between himself and Miki and punched him right in the face. A vicious blow that broke his nose in a spray of blood and sent him hurling backwards into MIki and her captor. All three of them crumpled to the floor and Miki freed herself in the scuffle. Andros didn’t rest on his laurels but pulled the knife out of his belt loop and turned to face the remaining two bandits, who backed away nervously.

“Are we done here or are you thieving bastards going to end up dead tonight?” he said, his voice an octave lower than usual and full of menace. He didn’t know he had it in him to threaten anybody, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Created by Moop!

[Miki]

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It all happened so fast. Miki spied the bandits, then she was being wrenched up into one's arms. Andros wasted no time punching the man in the face as she shook herself free. When the scuffle happened she dove for her gun which was propped by the open door, they weren't far as the hay pile was nearby. She looked around wildly thinking which one she needed to shoot next, but the pathetic bandits were too focused on the man who's nose was gushing blood. Looking at Andros she wondered if he could talk his way out of this one and decided to take matters into her own hands. Lightning crashed unfortunately when she went to fire her gun it was wet, so the powder would not light. She had to remove the powder and replace it, which she did quickly with the rod and the rag. By the time she had the shot ready she raised her gun in the air and looked right at the other bandits, saying,
"Fuck off!"
as she shot a blast into the top of the ceiling by the door. The bandits all looked startled and scared then, not sure what to do. by the time she had cleaned the gun again she readied another shot one of them stopped her.
"Please! Put that thing away. We want your money not your life, we're sorry for saying we would hurt you."
Miki spat on the ground.
"Sorry?"
She asked.

[Andros]

o----(::::::::::>

This was the strangest fight Andros had ever been in. At first the gang of rascals seemed frightening. Big, tough, came out of nowhere. Then he threw one punch and it’s like they all melted, nerve gone. The woman and the uninjured men went to tend to the man with the broken nose and cast wary glances at Andros. They ignored MIki as she took her time loading her gun, then looked up at her in horror when it went off.

“Sorry?” she asked. The injured man nodded furiously, which made his nose start bleeding again. “Yes, yes, we’re sorry. Please don’t shoot us, ma’am.” It was a pathetic showing from these ragged, sad bandits. If they were bandits at all.

“No one’s shooting anyone, at least not right now,” Andros replied, firmly. “You three, stand against the wall.” He gestured at the three uninjured rogues. The two men obediently took a step back but the woman stood her ground.

“You leave my brother alone!” she replied forcefully, taking a step towards Andros in a threatening manner. The injured man must have been the brother in question and she thought Andros was going to finish him off with the others out the way. Perhaps this was a group of siblings. The woman didn’t look much over twenty and the others three younger still, maybe her younger brothers. Urchins, perhaps, more than bandits.

Andros shook his head. “I’m not going to hurt him or anybody else unless you make me. I just want to be sure I’m not about to be stabbed. Empty your pockets, all of you, then we’ll talk.”

She eyed him warily, her hand touching a dagger at her belt.

“That’s not a good idea,” he said, calmly. “She’ll blow a hole in you. I’ve seen her do it. We’re not the thieves here. We don’t mean you any harm.”

The woman made a noise of disgust and threw down her dagger, and a second she pulled out from a fold in her cloak. The other two tossed down swords and little stiletto knives.

Feeling safer, Andros made a gamble. “When was the last time you lot had anything to eat?”

“The day before yesterday, dinner,” the injured man replied quickly. We had some bread.”

“Yes, that sounds about right. If you will let us ride out the storm in this barn, we will share our food with you. I have milk, cheese, dried meat, and some bread, enough to share. My name is Andros, by the way, and this beautiful woman who will slit all your throats if you touch a hair on my head is Miki.”

Created by Moop!

[Miki]

▄︻字═━──

Young and pathetic, the rag-tag group cowered after their initial display of aggression. The way Andros described Miki made her internally swoon because she would, she would gladly blow them to pieces. As much as she felt seen by his words the sight and thought of blood was just as exciting to her. Even though they had backed down she didn't lower her gun and looked them each fiercely in the eyes one by one. That was until Andros offered the meal and complimented her so sweetly. Sighing she relaxed and began helping him with the food, setting out plates and getting the group of ruffians something to eat. There was no kindness to her actions, she still didn't trust them one bit to let her guard down at all, anyone who would attack her first was never to be trusted again.

At first they ate in silence, the young bandits-to-be keeping a quiet conversation amongst themselves until Miki had enough of their whispering.
"Well come on now, speak up, we ain't keep secrets among us now do we?"
She said this with a dangerous smile, dripping with sarcasm and intent.
"Well, we was wondering what you two are even doin' here..."
The young man said sheepishly.
"I don't think that's your business, we are travelers, that's all you need to know."
She stole a painful glance to Andros, wondering if he would rebuke her and hoping he would know what to say in this situation to maybe break the mood. She wasn't trying to be friendly with them, but he seemed to be by sharing the food, so she wanted to keep things civil at least. It was not easy. She thought to herself,
'Next he's going to have them holding hands and naming the sheep.'
With a sarcastic small smile.

[Andros]

o----(::::::::::>

Miki was a much harder person than Andros, which was fair enough. She obviously had a hard life, even if she only shared it with Andros in dribs and drabs. He wasn’t surprised that she was distrustful of these thieves - it was probably the smart way to be. But Andros felt real pity for them. He watched them carefully share out the food, fairly dividing everything between them than savoring the simple meal as if it was from the finest chef’s table, dragging it out so it would last longer. They had obviously had a very rough time of it.

As best as Andros could tell, this was a group of siblings. The oldest was the girl, maybe 20. The youngest can’t have been older than 15. He guessed they’d been orphaned, left penniless to fend for themselves and turned to low-level banditry to eat. Sooner or later they’d end up swinging from a tree or simply disposed of when they picked the wrong mark. Miki might have been such a mark. They were lucky Andros was there.

He addressed himself to the girl, who seemed in charge. “Where are your parents? Your family?”

“Dead,” she responded flatly, without emotion. “We have no one.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. After dinner we’ll talk. Perhaps I know somewhere more…suitable where you can go.”

He was thinking of a tower. If they could work - cleaning, chopping wood, seeing to animals - they might find employment with one of the guilds on his recommendation. The girl nodded and went back to eating. She didn’t speak, and Andros didn’t press. Miki still looked ready to kill. This wasn’t a friendly meal.

When the food was done, the girl looked at her three brothers in a pointed way. They sidled off, forming a little circle near the wall and talking quietly. Andros was watching them a little suspiciously, when suddenly the girl sat down on his lap right there on the ground, facing him. He’d seen this move many times before. Women for hire see you have two coins to rub together. They’d like to remove those coins from you, so they make a clumsy, obvious pass. The girl must have been selling herself to help the family survive.

“You’re rich, aren’t you, handsome?” she asked. She was pretty, Andros would admit, but also young enough to be his granddaughter, and Miki was right there. He wasn’t a saint, but this was an absolute no.

“No, I’m sorry. I can’t, lass. Please get up.”

She didn’t take no for an answer. Instead she leaned in and kissed him.

Created by Moop!