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Icebreak
On the most southern edge of the Icebreak Glacier, in the northeast of the continent Kayua, is the rural city Icebreak. Locked away from the events of the world by thousands of miles of sheer ice and buried under snow most of the year, Icebreak remains a primitive land. It is accessible only by dog-sleigh and aircraft, under the best conditions.
Those who travel to this low, barren land, always have a reason. It is a no-man's land. Theives, outlaws, and rogues find it haven from law and punishment. Truly, a man is free in Icebreak. But that freedom is contained by the thick walls of man-made structures. For the deadly cold keeps the population chained to the limits of their city. For now, these chains have loosened as Icebreak's short summer season settles in. A foot of snow cloaks the land still, and at night the temperatures drop below negative 20, but the days are relativly warm. The populace has found their way outdoors, to enjoy the sport of races, hunting, and fishing. ~~~~~ Wrapped in a warm, worn cloak and protected from the nippy wind by fur lined gloves, Andy Tanthala makes her way into The Frozen Nut, a tavern favored by the outcasts and rogues who had found refuge in the frozen wasteland. She throws back her hood as she enters, looking around with a defiant air, daring somebody to make trouble with her. Satisfied with the downcast eyes, she selects a table and throws herself into the chair. She pulls a map out of her inner cloak pocket and spreads it on the table, studying it. The plump, well known waitress winds her way through the maze of tables, ignoring (and secertly enjoying) the numerous taps on the ass as she passes by. "What'll it be?" She asks, peering over Andy's shoulder to study the map. Under her breath, she laughs. This silly chit had a map of nothing, just a big white map. "Brandy." Andy replies tunelessly, absorbed in studying the known areas of the glacier. While the waitress pulls away, Andy mutters to herself. "Are there any out there that would be brave enough, reckless enough, to attempt this besides myself?" |
"Well well well, look what we have here.... I haven't seen you in ages!"
With a small smirk creeping onto his face the purple cloaked man steps up to the table where Andy had claimed. His long jet-black hair was slicked back as usual and large amounts of coins could be heard in his pocket. He takes a seat next to her and lays his cloak on the chair next to him. |
Slowly, the door to the bar swung open. A man walked in, that was not abnormal. Even his dress, a black robe and a black scarf covering his mouth and nose, was not too odd. What was odd, however, was the gigantic cloth on his back. It almost hit the ceiling of the building, and he had to bend over to move. His boots hit the floor with a stomp, and he nearly shoved over a table to get to the bar. His spiked black hair was currently wet, indicating a long trek from somewhere and he had a catch in his breath. The bartender looked at him and said "What'll you have?" to him, warily. "Watered down brandy on the rocks." he said, icily. Even with the fact it was so cold, his breath might have come out in a mist even if it was a thousand degrees. While the bartender scampered off to get the drink, another patron snuck up behind the man.
Tha patron had been drinking, and a bet from his equally drunken friends had sent him over to the man, to attempt to figure out what was that cloth was covering. In a drunkly swift movement the man had shot forward. In a soberly agile movement, the man had spun around in his seat and sent the man on the ground with a kick, clutching his stomache. The man stood up fully, the cloth banging against the roof harsly. The man reached behind his back and pulled the cloth off of his back, to reveal A huge 'gun'. It looked more like a cannon barrel with thousands of sights on it, and a pistol grip. There were boxes of ammo hanging off it, tied by twine and wire. "Do you have any further buisness with me, fool, or shall I personally introduce you to it's ammo?" and that sent the drunken man off out the door. Solamente sighed and sat down, leaving the cloth off. His gun shone brightly in the poor lighting, and seemed even bigger then the cloth had shown. Curiously, he seemed to be able to move it without even lookign strained. Odd fellow, indeed. The bartender returned with his drink, then promptly peed himself in sight of the gun. He ran off to change, while Solamente smirked and began to drink. |
Andy jumps six inches up, torn from her concentrations by the familiar voice. She looks up, jaw dropping, her heart pounding in her eyes. She stands up awkwardly, hitting her legs against the table and breaks into an ear-to-ear grin.
"'Bout time, Umbra, 'bout time!" Romance wasn't ever her thing. The gleam off of the gun catches her eyes, as all things that shine tend to do. She looks over and her eyes open wide in further surprise. "What the hell?" |
With all the commotion he looks around the room. Although uncaring he takes interest in the newcomer. His eyes dart back and forth between the man and the weapon. After a few minutes of watching the tussle he turns back to Andy. He'd rather catch up on news and then try to figure out more information about this newcomer.
"I have never seen such a character in these parts... I wonder why he's here.... er... anyway, how has it been going... cough old friend." There seemed to be an underlining to the comment of old friend. As if to share a secret inside joke with each other. |
She laughs and tucks her hair behind her ear. "Sit, sit, I'll explain all of it to you." Andy motions to the paper.
"You see, after our little group got split in Javenport, I stuck around the city of sea wealth for a while. I was doing pretty good for myself. I've never made so much in a year." She winks. "I had a little gang getting organized. There are so many thieves in that city, after all, and if we worked together we could be quite a force. But alas, there was a spy amongst them. The little snitch rattled to the local, sizeable, police force. I managed to shut him up, once and for all, before getting arrested. Needless to say, it didn't help my situation much. Javenport's got a pretty nice prison, by the way. Cleaner than Tyrina's, anyway." She takes a sip of the brandy. "Anyway, after a few months, I was able to get out. Nice prisons like that are the easiest to escape from. They never really expect anybody to get out, cause they think it's perfect. They should really check the size of those air ducts. But I'm rambling some. Since I'm currently wanted in nearly every city in Kayua, I had to wing it here, to the Thieves' Haven. But I've been busy. You see this map? It's Icebreak Glacier. Not much to look at. These sketchy lines, here, are the edges of where it's been discovered. And I think that, right outside this northern line here, is a city buried under the snow. A city of treasure." In her excitment, her voice had risen, attracting the keen ears of many a pickpocket and thief. |
Solamente ignored the other patrons, his keen ears picking up the scattered conversations. His mind was focused on his task, a single purpose etched into his mind. He was venturing to a place he'd recently heard about, a place that legends spoke of as 'The White Hell'. It was supposedly a haven for the darkness, the death and those that worshipped it. Basically, it was like a shooting gallery for Hunters like himself. He jolted when he heard the mention of a 'city under the snow' and then snorted as he heard the woman call it a city of treasure. Sure, but you had to pry it from the hands of the demons first. Or maybe he was wrong, it was just some city lost in time..Regardless, it was his duty as a hunter to wash the filth from the world, and that place seemed his best lead in a while.
He downed the last of his drink, then flipped a bag of coins onto the bar. Not just a small amount, but a full bag which the bartender grabbed instantly. "Start me a tab. I'll be returning here a lot." he said, then stood up. His gun once more make small dents in the ceiling, and he bent over once more. He stepped over to the table the two were talking at, his shadow covering them. His face, hidden again by his scarf, made him look older then he was, but he didn't mind it. He pulled the scarf down, revealing a scarred face to the 'couple'. "I overheard you speaking of the buried city.." he said, his voice stilly icy. "I'm a...Bounty Hunter." he said quickly. "I've heard rumors one of my..targets..is hiding in an underground city in the area..Perhaps you would use a strongarm on the trip?" he said. He had no idea where to look, or what he would find. He might as well help someone along the way. One wobble towards repentance, he supposed. |
Under the table, Andy's hand flashes out and takes hold of Umbra's. She didn't like or trust bounty hunters. Her head, wanted across the continent, was much too comfortable sitting on her shoulders. She looks at Umbra, seeking his advice first before saying a resounding "no."
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Solamente didn't give eiather of them the time to respond. The look on the girl's face said it all for him, as did the way she glanced at her friend. Solamente nodded slightly, and rewrapped the scarf on his face. "I see." he said, before quietly stepping past the table. He stopped and then turned to Andy and Umbra, and closed his eyes. "May the Lord's blessing be with you, then." and turned to the door. As he exited, a nearby table of six rather rough looking men stood up, tightened a few weapons on their belts and made their way outside.
The door to the tavern was left opened, so the next little bit of action was plainly visable. Solamente was suddenly pushed against the building across from the tavern, one of the men holding a sword to his neck. The rest of them had their weapons already drawn, and the apparently leader of the bunch said "So, you're the Filth Hunter? We don't appreciate your kind here, you know. I suggest you pack your little show up and get outta our town." he said, thumbing a wicked looking dagger. Solamente seemed unphased by the blade to his neck as he said "I am not here to deal with you fools. My buisness is in the White Hell, and unless you'd like to be sent to the real Hell, I suggest you leave, now." The thugs looked about at each other, and started snickering and laughing. The one at his throat grinned and was about to shove the sword through..When Solamente's right arm flashed. A small pistol shot out of his sleeve, and with a single shot the man was dead at his feet, a hole in his temple. He stepped over the body, glancing at the remaining thugs. "Move. Now." he said calmly, as the pistol gleamed in his hand. A few of the thugs looked concerned, but noone made any move to back off. "Fine." Solamente said, and sighed as the rest of the thugs charged him. In a burst of fire, the pistol had dealt with three of them and left another clutching his face on the ground, a bullet lodged in his eye. The leader of the thugs stuttered for a minute, before turning and attempting to run into the Tavern. Solamente's hand suddenly grabbed the back of his head, lifting him into the air slowly. He let him dangle there for a moment, then raised the pistol he carried. He pointed it at the man's temple, then pressed hard. Click. He dropped the man onto the ground, and calmly pushed the empty pistol back into his sleeve. The man on the ground quivered, then attempted to scramble up. No such luck, however. Solamente grabbed him by the neck and sent him spiraling through the air, landing in a battered heap infront of the bar. A stool fell over onto him, followed by several mugs full of ale. Solamente shook his head and muttered what appeared to be a prayer, then stepped inside and looked at the bartender, his voice crisp and clear. "Make sure when he wakes up that he gets something strong to drink. Put it on my tab." to which the bartender nodded quickly. Solamente sighed and turned back around to the door and exited, making sure to kick the man outside with a bullet in his eye on the way. |
He squeezes her hand for a moment and let's go.
"You ok? I'm going to find out who this character is." He grabs his cloak and throws it on in one swift motion. While he walks towards the door he grabs the man who had recently been thrown and drags him outside. Now outside he opens a barrel, which was fairly near and breaks the ice inside revealing water underneath. He grabs the man and dunks his head under, waking him up from his traumatic experience. "Now, I want a swift answer, who was that man?" |
The man, with a splitting headache and general pain all over his body, stutters and gasps for a moment. "S..Solament..Solamente Furia!" he chokes out, then takes several long breathes to clear the water from his lungs. "He's called the Filth Hunter! He hunts down demons and possesed humans, and thinks he's some kind of saviour to humanity." he spit out, still trying to find which direction was up.
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With a cold stare on his feminine like face he drops the man heavily onto the thick snow. A cold wind picked up and small flakes started dropping from the sky. He slowly glides through the snow and into the bar once more. He grabs one more drink and strides over to Andy.
"Andy... I think it would be wise if we followed this man. If we want to find this... city, then I think if we found him we could locate it. Oh.. Yes i will be joining this little expedition!" He flashes a smile and stares at her for a few moments through his lavender eyes. "So what do you think?" |
Andy smiles lightly, happy her friend would be joining her on her perlious quest. "I think he's a bounty hunter and therefore untrustable. But, he can certainly handle that oversized gun he's carrying, so I guess he'll come in use. Let's go recruit him."
Slipping out (without paying, of course), Andy bundles herself up against the spiteful wind that whips across the snow-laden streets and hurries in the direction of Solamente. Expecting that Umbra would follow her (those days as leader of the theives gang had their effect), she catches up with him and places her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hold on a second." |
Solamente stopped in his tracks, feeling the hand touch him. His first instinct was to whirl about and plant the unfortunate being into the snow, but he kept his fist in check for the moment. He turned slowly, facing Andy. He gave a half smile under his scarf, and nodded his head. "And hello to you again. How can I help you?" he asked in a somewhat plesent tone. He had a distant feeling he already knew, but he didn't want to jump to the conclusion yet. Besides, it might be fun hearing her say it.
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She stutters slightly, a little cold and a little nervous. "I-I-I w-w-ant to recruit you-your servi-c-ces. For an expedition to f-f-f-find the City Under the Ice."
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Solamente smirked. He'd been right, of course. He noted Andy's cold stutter, and pulled the scarf off his face and handed it to her. "Here." he said, more concerned with her health then any of her words at the moment. He stood up straight, which meant the cannon on his back suddenly made him seem like a walking telephone pole. "Of course. I'd be happy to join you. I've already prepared to travel alone, but if you need my services I'd be more then happy to assist." he said, then crossed his arms slightly.
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"Well your going to have to travel with me as well."
As the two had been talking, Umbra had been catching up. His deep purple cloak was swaying in the wind and slowly turning white from the snow. He looks up with his lavender eyes and smirks a bit. "I'm guessing you won't mind." |
Andy accepts the scarf without comment and wraps it around her face. She smiles through it as Umbra catches up. She couldn't help but smile whenever he was near. "Fine, fine. Welcome to the team. My name is...uhh..." Her distrust rears its ugly head, preventing her from giving out her true name. "Just call me Chief. That's Umbra...he's my second in command. We'll be leaving tomorrow, after I can uh...gather...our supplies."
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Solamente smiles brightly and says "Good, good. I certainly hope I'll see you then. I have to go double check my supplies myself. Oh.." he reached into a pocket and fiddled around, and extracted a rather plump bag of coinage. "My chip in for the supplies." he said with a smile, then dropped it into Andy's hands. He nodded to Umbra. "Of course I don't mind." and turned. He lifted his hand in a backwards wave, and off he went down the street, towards the nearest Inn.
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"Interesting fellow I must say. Well why don't we head to town, we still have to get supplies before night. I'll go on ahead, ill meet you in the inn, room 13."
With that said he takes off into the wintery blaze before them. What was once standing before andy was now a small purple dot moving in the distance. |
Andy happily pockets Sol's money. She wasn't planning on using it. Hell, truth be told, she wasn't planning on buying any of their supplies. Reaching into the pocket housing the map, she pulls out a peice of jerky and thoughtfully chews it. They would need plenty of supplies. She better get moving.
The chilly afternoon fades into bitter night. Andy, smug with her success, knocks on the door of room 13 in the only inn the town offered. The city didn't get many travelers, after all. "Umbra, you there?" |
Sola, in room 20, was currently standing in the middle of his room. His robe was laying folded on his bed, along with another scarf. He was wearing a black preacher's outfit, and was checkign things on his bed. His room looked untouched, save for the bed itself, which was somewhat ruffled. He stepped over to the bed, and began thumbing over things. His cannon lay against a wall, barely missing the ceiling. On a desk infront of the window, a variety of arms lay, along with spare clips and boxes of ammo.
"Backpack..Canteen..Canteen..Whisky Bottle...Fork, knife and spoon.." he said to himself, nodding after a few minutes and begginning to shuffle most of the items into a backpack. He then stood up straight and tied the backpack to his cannon, which already had four metal boxes hanging from it. He stepped over to his gun desk, and began to load clips into the proper guns, and set aside extras. When he'd finally gotten his packing down, he quietly stepped over to, and laid down on, his bed, ontop the blanket. Sleep came quickly, and before long he was snoring loud enough to wake the living and dead. |
((Just for reference.. cause I like to picture chars: http://www.deviantart.com/view/16246450/ Saeja.. roughly. She's kind of in the works. It's a similiar style though in appearance.. her outfit at least. changing the rest prolly.))
Slipping through the crowd with ease, a young, slender female elf made her way along the side walls. She smiled to herself almost gleefully as her violet and jade eyes lit up from her overly confident display. Every few tables she would duck down and untie the string from someone's belt pouch and let it fall into her bag before walking right up to the bar and sitting down on a stool, putting her bag between her feet and grinning sheepishly at the bartender. "So Saeja... how's the pickin' going?" She looked at the man puzzled and tossed him a few gold pieces to keep him silent like she had done everytime she was in town. "C'mon Rem, dontcha know how to keep yer voice down?" She stuck her tongue out at him for a second and hopped down from the stool, turning with a swiftness and disappeared back into the crowd of patrons, heading for the corner where a small ladder was to lead up into the rafters, her favorite hiding place. |
"Yes i'm here, you can come in."
The room was fairly neat save the small mounds of items spewed about the room. Almost tripping on the one pile he quickly recovers and sits on the bed. Having just came out of the shower he gave a look of shock as the wind blew into the room. He quickly grabs a shirt and throws it on real quick. "Please shut the door..." Now dressed he lays back on the bed and motions for Andy to either sit someone or come lay down. |
She slips in with a sigh. Padding softly over to the bed, she awkwardly sits down. Untying the cloak, she tosses it onto a nearby chair. Her attire isn't so bad nowadays. A thick sweater made of wool looks to be in relativly good shape. Her usual khaki pants are apparent, showing their usual signs of bulging pockets. She lays back and stares up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking. "Why are you here, Umbra? I don't think you came looking for me."
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"You know me well... actually I didn't even know where you were. After we split up and went our own ways back in my area everything started going downhill. The law finally found me while sleeping one night. I was sentenced to death but luckily escaped. My fortune was taken from me by law enforcers and I had no where to go. You already know about my.... Family. So, since every part of kayua was after me I had no choice but to come here with nothing but the things on my back.
Seeing you in this inn was the only warm-hearted feeling I’ve had in a while. Which is ironic in this god-forsaken tundra. Since I had nothing to lose and no where to go I decided to go on this quest." He takes a long pause and shuts his eyes tight. Small tears start to form in his eyes as he sits up and looks at Andy. "Look.... I shouldn't have left back there. I should have went with you. But I couldn't control myself... I would have hurt you... So I had to leave so I can control my power... I'm sorry.... God damnit... there is not a day that goes by where I scream out that mans voice in vain. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be cursed like this." |
Saeja started to ascend up the ladder to the rafters where she had made a hiding spot out of the southmost corner where the cieling made a ledge of some sort about eight foot wide with a railing wall to keep anything from being seen or falling. Rem, the barkeep allowed her to sleep up there and hide there when she needed when she was in town. Suddenly a voice came booming from the crowd behind her that made her pointed ears flatten like a cats, and her eyebrows narrow in irritation, recognizing the voice.
"Yo Saej!!", exclaimed a lanky half-elf young man who appeared around the human age of 14, but by elf standards, probably was about 83. Saeja appeared to be about 17 years of age herself, but in reality was 89 to 100. She stopped counting sometime ago, She snapped her head back and glanced at the boy. "What did I tell ya about yellin' my name like a jackal Josie?" The boy stood there at the foot of the ladder rather disappointed at her reaction to them. It had been about 2 years since they had last seen one another, and he was happy to see her. "I just wanted to tell you about Rem.... I'm sorry.", he glanced at the floor. Saeja tightened her grip around the sides of the ladder and placed a foot on each posting going up each side and let herself slide down until she hit the floor with a thunk. "It's okay kid. What about Rem?", she smiled at the boy with a rather silly expression. He quickly smiled at her and grabbed her arm and pulled her across the floor. "Whoa! Hey! C'mon wait!", she yelled as she swiftly reached down and grabbed her bag before Josie pulled her into the crowd and up to the bar where Rem was waiting. Rem stood there laughing at the childish display. He knew that Josie had a crush on Saeja, and Saeja, as usual, was clueless. "Sorry ta bring ya back 'er, but I got me a hot tip for ye."", he said with a bigger grin on his face, holding out his hand. "What's it worth to ya?" Saeja muttered something in elvish under her breath. Probably some curses about how greedy Rem could be, but she didn't pay no mind. She always robbed him blind before the night was out. She quietly handed him a few semi-precious stones. "How's that for ya?", she winked. He let out a long bellow as he pulled her behind the back mirror and spoke to her of a man in room 20 upstairs in the inn portion of the tavern and how he seemed to be loaded. Her pointed ears perked up high as she glanced at the stairwell, completely ignoring any of the warnings that followed him saying that the man was loaded. Nothing else phased her. Rem rolled his eyes and shruged. He knew she'd learn like usual, or get lucky and the man would be unlucky. Whatever the outcome, he had his pay, so he headed back to the bar. She turned facing Rem with a grin and slowly reached out and plucked the coin purse from Rem's hip with a soft yank and ran off and up the stairs. She stopped at the top of the stairs and glanced around, it was quiet. Saeja crept up to room 20 and slowly put her ear to the door listening and was nearly deafened by the snoring from within. She muttered again in elvish curses before creeping into the room and across the floor. She saw a glinting large gun across the room and was completely dumbfounded. All she could think was she was dead. She shruged and stealthfully made her way to his bag, plundering in it until she pulled out a coin purse. Just then, the man rolled over in his sleep falling silent. She froze. She franticly looked around and quickly, but quietly made her way to the other side of the room, ducking behind a large dresser, gripping the hilt of her kukiri tightly. |
Andy turns over on herside, looking away from him. "I've been hurt a lot in my life, Umbra. But..." She sighs and shakes her head. "I loved you. I still do. I saw the look in your eye that night, Umbra. I don't ever want to see it there again. I'm not a fighter. Hell, I can barely even use my knife to do anything besides pick locks. I'm a thief. I stole your heart, and now I don't know what to do. I came here to escape from Kayua, like you, but now I realize I was trying to escape from everything that had happened. And I can't do that. I'm glad you're here."
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Solamente's eyes wern't open, his breathing remained the same and soon he began snoring again..All except for the fact his mind was alarmingly awake. He'd learned to sleep lightly enough a man whispering twenty miles away could wake him, and tonight was not different at all. His first order of buisness was to make sure this person wasn't an assassin. As they moved across the floor, checking his things, he realized no, it was a thief. Solamente mentally chuckled, he'd have some fun with this one. He opened his eye wide, and in a bolt was up off the bed and had pulled one of his small pistols from under his pillow.
He stepped infront of his door and calmly flicked the lightswitch on, his eyes scanning the room as he did. He tapped the pistol against his thigh, not really in the mood to start shooting at random hiding places yet. He was positioned so his back was directly pressed against the lock, and even if she moved for a window he would be able to get a shot at her before she hit them. Then he remembered something..Ah yes. His special request. He'd asked the owner to allow him to temporary bars in his window. The man had agreed, but not without a hefty donations from the bank of Solamente. An old habit, but now it was paying off it seemed. He calmly flicked the lock on his door again, and began to hum. It was only a matter of waiting, now. |
Widening her eyes, Saeja peered around from her hiding place at the man as he locked the door, she could hear the locks snapping into place. She had to find a way out so she frantically looked around, with nothing but the canon's image in her head. There was no way she was going to face THAT. No way at all. She wasn't the type to want to kill. In fact, she didn't fight a lot, not seriously at least. She did however, get herself into trouble by picking fights with people who she should know better about messing with just to try and be a bad ass. She was a bit full of herself to say the least.
Saeja quietly turned her body and examined the wall. She shook her head. She couldn't try to slice through the wall to get away, he'd hear it. She glanced from behind her hiding place and saw the curtained window and grinned almost with glee as she quickly bolted for the window. Suddenly a loud rattling could be heard and then a thud as Saeja hit the floor, landing on her rear. "Ow! What the hell!?" She never knew Rem to put bars on the windows, but it was too late now. Her vision slowly became groggy and she fell back, unconscious. |
Solamente sighed, shaking his head. He hadn't really expected that..With a shrug, he tossed the gun onto his bed and stepped over to her softly. He leaned down and checked her head, making sure the fool hadn't cracked her head open. No such luck, just a big bump that had knocked her out. He leaned back and cracked his knuckles, wiggled his fingers and placed them over Saeja's head. "May the Lord's Light mend thy wounds and sooth thy mind, Amen." in an echoing tone. A flash of pale blue light shot from his hand, and a single, unknown letter appeared on Saeja's forehead for a moment, then disappeared.
He stood up, knowing that she would wake up in a moment from the spell and decided to pick her up and gently set her on the bed. He made certain to pick up his pistol, and disarm her too, before he went back to leaning against the door, keeping his eyes glued to her. His money bag also found its way back into his hand, along with her weapons. |
Slowly the girl's eyes opened as she focused in on the room around her. She had forgotten about what happened and because of the lack of pain from the now, disappeared wound, she didn't even know she hit anything. She looked around some before noticing her belt with the two kukris she dual-wielded were missing. She gasped and glanced towards the man. "What the hell ya think yer doin' with my stuff?!", she quickly reached to the side of her boot to pull out a tiny throwing dagger but found it too, was gone.
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Solamente grinned at her, his eyes locked on her face. "You tried to rob me. I'm making sure you don't try to stab me too. Hows your head? You hit that window pretty hard." he said, gently patting his bag of money. His pistol wasn't in his hand, but he could use her own weapon against her is she tried to run. He quietly set his money bag on a table next to the door, keeping his eye on her. He was thumbing her weapons, just waiting for her to make a move. Part of him wanted to give her the money, then tell her where she could find the rest of it in his matress. The other half wanted to give her some pieces, kick her down the hall and resume sleeping.
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Saeja jumped to her feet and dusted herself off as she glared at him, but not in a evil sort of way, but in a cute, trying too hard sort of way. She just could not be convincing if she tried to act bad. She might be pretty dangerous when it comes to cunning and stealth, and if she's caught into a fight of close combat, but she just didnt' appear the fighting type. She marched right up to Sola and looked up at him, her fists balled up at her sides. "Gimmie my stuff. Rem won't be happy when he finds out that yer treating his best customer like this, ya know.", she grinned slyly.
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Solamente's eyes flashed, and he leaned down to look her straight in her face. His grin was somewhat sickening. His scarf was off, and his priest's garmet offered no shield for his face. He had scars all over his lower face, including what looked like two rips on his cheek. "I don't personally care, my dear, what that man thinks. If I were so inclined, I could simply inform him that you tried to rob my room and then enforce people's justice upon you. A single cannon bullet would do nicely for someone your size. Maybe in a non-vital area to make it slower, hm?" He said, his voice sounding nice, a vast contrast to his words.
He leaned back, his grin still in place. "The way I see it, you have no options but to sit the HELL down." he said, his voice raising slightly. He wanted to atleast find out her name before he sent her packing. |
She growled under her breath, his words not really mattering to her, as she paced back and forth in front of him. She couldn't just rat Rem out for telling her about this room, I doubt he knew that this man was a crazy priest. Rem probably thought he was just some pushover with a gun for looks. Boy was he wrong. She sighed to herself not sure what to do in this little situation she had gotten herself into.
"Alrighty then, hows about this. How about you give me my stuff, and I walk right outta here like nothin happened and we pretend we never spoke? How's that suit yer fancy?", she glanced up at him, a bit hopeful because she just didn't want to cause trouble in Rem's establishment. She did have SOME respect for the barkeep. And she really didn't want to fight a priest. She thought somehow she'd be punished in the end. She didn't think her thieving and plundering around would be punished because she felt like she deserved something for all the hardship she was put through as a child being half wood-elf, and half high-elf. Shunned by both sides, not accepted. Not many know the story, but Rem did. He knew she was a runaway, and maybe one or two picked up on it because of her childish, immature disposition. She sometimes just could not hide that she had no proper raising. |
"Nu-uh." he said, wagging his finger. He stood up straight, pocketing her stuff. "No can do, my little friend." he said softly. "See, I think if you really need my money, you can earn it, m'kay?" he said. Suddenly sensing the awkwardness of what he just implied, he shouted "AND NOT LIKE THAT!" in a disturbed voice. He was, after all, a priest. "What I mean iiis..I need a helper. See, tomarrow me and some friends are gonna take a walk in the snow. And I figure one more hand can't hurt. So heres what we do. You come with me and back, I pay you well and don't level this place. Hows that sound?" he said, then pointed to his bed. "And before you answer, sit down and tell me your name." he said. He seemed a lot more friendly then before, maybe it was the mood.
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She thought for a moment and sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "The name's Saeja.", she said crossing her arms stubbornly. She didn't like the idea of earning money. However she felt the weight of that bag of coins, imagine what else he might have. She could easily rob him and run while on the trip perhaps, who knows. She looked up at him, eyebrow arched. She got serious. "What's this trip about? What's in it fer me besides the money from you? I mean, I could always get my money from another hopeless sap. What's a good reason for me to to go on this ... trip?"
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"Hmm.." Solamente said softly, raising his head slowly. "..Oh yeah." he said, then looked straight at Saeja. "Because no other 'sap' in the area is a direct agent of the Chruch, thus capable of making your head worth more money then this entire town. And also, because no other 'sap' is capable of having several priest-hunters track you down for the rest of your life. Trust me, my dear Saeja, you need this trip more then I need you to go." he said, then grinned. "As a Demon Hunter, it is my sworn duty to slay all demons, demon worshipping humans, possesed humans..And people such as yourself. And if I don't, I am supposed to report you to The Church so others can. So allow me to say, it would be a poor idea to refuse me." he said with a smirk.
"My name is Solamente, by the way. Now what do you say? Go with me, earn a good lot of money, see a hidden city and keep your name off wanted posters, OR, get on my bad side, get hunted down by groups of fanatical priests armed to the teeth and get your name posted in every corner of the world?" he said softly, then crossed his arms. |
Well the answer that was in her mind was quite obvious by the dumbstruck look across her face. "Not much of a option ya leaving me Sol.", she said using his name with not much respect. Who was she kidding, she wasn't using any respect. She thought for a moment. Hidden city? Maybe she could snag some priceless treasures while she was there. "Any chance I'd find some treasure on this thing?", she smiled slightly, her eyes lighting up. She loved things that shined.
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"I expect so. But keeping it might be hard. One of my other companions is ALSO a thief, so I expect you two will be beating each other for some of the things hidden there.." he said, conviently leaving out the fact he expected it to be infested with hellspawn of many varieties. He wasn't quite sure what was hidden there, so he was not going to alarm anyone yet. "But aside from that, I expect you will find a nice many things." he said again. He noted her disrespectful use of his name, but shrugged it off. Sol or Sola was his preferred nickname, anyway. Solamente was annoying to say properly. He sighed and slumped against the door, then said "Now. I suggest you go get packed, get your supplies in order for a multi-day trek through the snow, and meet me back here tomarrow morning...Here." he said, then tossed all of her things onto the floor infront of her..Including the money she'd tried to take from him. "For supplies, and for keeping." he said, with a grin. He stepped over her, then sat down on his bed. "If you can't get a room, feel free to wake me up and you can have this one. I'll go sleep in the hallway." he said.
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She stood up and grabbed up her things, latching her belt around her waist and shoving the throwing dagger into her boot before heading for the door. "Rem has a place for me to sleep. I come here a lot.", she stated as she opened the door and disappeared into the hall.
She sighed knowing she would have to meet him tomorrow morning here. She didn't need to deal with some gun crazed man coming after her, so she headed down the stairs. She glared over at Rem who was watching her, and he arched a brow and yelled out to her as she walked across the floor of the now empty tavern. "What's wrong with ye Saeja?", he said. "You sent me to see a damned lunatic Rem. Now I'm stuck in a sticky situation." He laughed as if he didn't take what she said too serioiusly. She always overreacted. She quietly made her way up into the rafters and went to her section of the tavern after climbing over the many beams. She sighed and dropped her belt and things beside her cot. She went to sleep fairly quickly. |
Outside, in the dark and the snow, a figure walked down an alleyway near the inn. To describe the man as 'elfin' would hit the nail on the head, but Janus Asriel prided himself on being as little like the majority of his kin as possible. He idly lit a cigarette and politely announced to the deserted alley that he'd like it to report. Someone had made a rather large cock-up somewhere, and he'd quite like to find out who.
Behind him, the Mark XVI was as surprised as a finely honed, multi-million pound robotic killing machine could be. It was certain that it had made no humanley audiable noise and 98.56% sure that it had made no elfinly audiable noise in it's approach. It was both downwind and behind from the elf, meaning that there was no possible way that... Or, it'd just been given a polite lesson in subtlety. It found organic beings vexing at the best of times, and this was not helping it's studies. However, it had been given an order, and orders were things it worked with very well "There would appear to be no sign of him anywhere. We've performed a thorough search of almost all his regular haunts, and several irregular haunts. I am unsettled by this. In my experience, people do not vanish of their own accord." "I suggest you re-read his file. As for now, why are you here?" "I believe that something is brewing here. Call it... intutiton? No matter. If fruitless, the search will continue, of this I assure you. Apologies for the intrusion, but what are you going to be doing while you are here?" "Hm. I'd hope so. As for your question, I suppose it can't hurt to stay for a while. You claim to have everything under control. I'll hit a nearby inn. I guess I could use a holiday. Keep me informed, will you?" A few moments later, he walked into the nearby in and decided to haggle for the price of a room. A little fun couldn't hurt. |
"I know... Look, let's not try to think about the bad. We have quite a long day ahead of us tomorrow, I’m gonna head out for a bit. Walk around for an hour or two. If you want you can follow but you look tired, oh and if you do end up falling asleep... Goodnight."
He gently glides over to the door and slides the door shut. He walks past Solamente's room and overhears some talking. A little curious about whom the second person was he stops for a moment but decides against spying. He continues to the main lobby and notices a new figure talking to the clerk about something. Umbra was too busy thinking then actually paying attention to his surroundings. He walks outside and tightens his cloak around his face and lights a cigarette. He exhales deeply and watches the smoke and his breath mix and swirl about the chilly moonlit air. He paces a bit then leans up against a beam looking into a window of the inn. He has a good view of the newcomer talking to the clerk and slowly puffs on his cigarette as he watches them talk. |
Solamente's eyes snapped open, a scream held back in his chest. He'd fallen asleep after the theif had left, and had been enjoying a good nights rest in a decently comfortable bed..Until a dream hit him. A dream he'd had thousands of times, yet never failed to make him sob in his sleep. He adjusted the gun under his pillow, and stood up. He stepped to his door, slammed the lock open and stalked down the hallway, downstairs to the bar. He was still wearing his priest's robes, and looked quite odd with bedhead. He sat down, ignoring everyone else and said "Strongest thing you've got. And I want the bottle, not a glass."
In his mind, he cursed silently. He was a hunter of the damned. He'd seen and killed things that normal humans only dreamt about on their darkest nights. He was a protector, yet the protectors often fear for that which they cannot protect. His dreams always started the same. He was standing infront of his church. Not just a church, HIS church. He would walk inside, and find flames consuming it. His children, the orphans, scattered about in terror. Some dead, some on fire and most wounded. Screeching amongst them, were demonic forms. Try as he might, he could never stop them. They would fade through his fingers like water. The dream would only end when his favorite child, a boy of four named Thomas, would crawl up to him and grab his leg, then scream "Why Father, why!?" before he was drug off to be consumed by the hellspawn. Solamente's eyes watered slightly, but he shook it off instantly. He wouldn't be crying in some damned bar in the middle of a frozen wasteland, no. |
The new found commotion that was going on down in the bar was enough to wake Saeja up. "Damnit to hell!!", she exclaimed and sat up. if anyone had heard her, they wouldn't know where she was because her little spot was tucked away nicely. She growled and got up, putting on her belt and things before crawling over to the edge and looking down at the newcomers. She usually knew hardly anyone to be in the bar at this time of night except nightwalkers and depressed people who usually, to her dismay, were broke.
She perked up her ears and arched a brow when she noticed Solamente down there. She crawled out onto the rafters, making her way silently through them and stopping above the bar, trying to listen to see if Rem would run his mouth about who she was and such or not if he heard the story of what happened upstairs. Standing at the bar was a large burly man who was quite filthy. At first glance one might be completely disgusted by his appearance. His hair was a tangled mess of black curls that clearly hadn't been washed in weeks, his face was very scruffy as if he hadn't shaved in a few days and quite greasylooking with a few unsightly moles. Further down the man wore a holely wifebeater with a large round belly, that if it were not for the apron he adorned covered in various alcohols, his hairy stomach would show from the bottom of the shirt. He stood there cleaning out a shotglass as he eyed Solamente. "Aight, but I warn ye, it'll make ya grow hair in places ye don't want.", he laughed loudly as he pulled out a green bottle with no label from beneath the counter and sat it in front of Solamente. "My own special blend. I call it "Rem's Surprise".", he grinned rather proudly like he invented the world's most greatest new gadget, but really had no idea what to name it. He stood there a moment looking at Solamente and then scratched his chin at the stubble before continuing to clean the shot glasses. |
Andy tosses and turns for a few minutes, attempting to get her mind in order. "Oh, fuck it. I'm not getting any sleep tonight, even if he wasn't sharing this room." Swiftly, she throws back the covers and shoves her feet into her well-used leather and fur boots. Heading down the stairs, she spies the newcomer and, unlike Umbra, pays him more attention than he may want. Her eyes scan up and down, dissecting him to figure out his wealth. Interested in what she sees, Andy slides into the vacant chair next to him, wanting to either loosen his purse or hear a hopefully distracting tale. "Evening to you, blessed we be to have such warm accomadations in this frozen hell." She smiles warmly.
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Solamente raised an eyebrow at the stuff. It wasn't that he wasn't an experianced drinker, anyone in his line of work had to be. It was simply that he'd learned from experiance that drinks made by bartenders tended to be more lethal then alchoholic. With a resigned shrug, he grabbed the bottle and took a quick chug. Almost instantly, he felt like he was on fire. Every part of his body, stemming from his mouth, was engulfed in flames..Then cooled. Solamente raised put the bottle back on the counter, then took a deep breath. "Ouch." was all he said. He smirked at Rem, then downed another gulp. "S'good stuff." he said, then closed his eyes.
"Tell me. Whats your name?" he said absently to Rem. He felt like being alone, yet talking. Every bartender in every town he'd been too had, for atleast one night, become his own personal priest. He'd confessed to some, he'd cried to other and once, he'd even had a long discussion about the Church with one. He sighed mentally, then downed even more of the potentially lethal drink. |
Rem grunted and let out a deep laugh at Solemente as he reacted to his concoction. "Glad ye like it. It's on the house, ye look like ye could use a drink." He glanced down to Andy and the newcomer and spoke out in a loud, but friendly way, "If ye need anythin' don'tcha hesitate to ask!" He looked back to Solemente as he sat down one of the glasses on stained towel. "The name's Rem. And what of yer name, sir? What brings ye to this dum-er.. these fine accomidations?", he chuckled under his breath. |
"My name is Solamente..Sola will do, though." he said, taking one more drink before he set the bottle down. "I'm here on buisness." he said, making it sound like that was all he would say. "I'm a demon hunter." he stated abruptly. "I'm here on orders of the Church to investigate some supposed ruins." he said, then chuckled. "Thousand places in the world that need cleaning up, and they have to send me to the middle of a white, snowy version of hell, eh?" he said with a wide, toothy grin and then downed a good quarter of the bottle in a single breath.
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Rem arched an eyebrow as he looked at Solamente. "So ye hunt the damned?" He mulled the thought around in his head, scratching at the stubble of his chin as he pondered. "Well aint that somethin'.", he said rather plainly, not sure what to say to that. He's seen his share of characters coming in this bar, but this was the first he'd heard of a demon hunter.
About the time she heard that, Saeja nearly fell from the rafters, but caught herself careful not to stir up dust. She sat there with an expression on her face that could only be described as a cross between fear and anger over the fact that this man failed to mention that there would be demons on this trek. Real, live, gnashing of teeth, demons. She shook her head quickly and peered down at Rem and Solamente as she listened intently. |
"Indeed I do. The damned, their worshippers and those corrupted by them. It's a damning job, and I'll probably be roasting along with them in hell someday. I sacrifice my soul so normal people can keep theirs. I'm a walking bloody hero." he said, a sour note in his voice. He shrugged and said "The main problem with most trips is, they tend to be off. Most of our reports of demons are eiather fakes, or theres more powerful demons then we were told of. This one time, I go into this old church. Report of a simple vampire, no followers, no servants, right? I took maybe..Two pistols? Holy silver bullets of course. I walk in, and I'm staring face to face with an entire FAMILY of vampires. Daddy apparently added some new members to the family in the week it took me to get there. Lovely little fight that was." he said with a chuckle. He took another swig, and resumed. "This investigation of mine is about the same. It could be a ruin swarming with hellspawn, or it could be a sunken wasteland filled with nothing but dust and artifacts. The story of my life, eh?" with another chuckle.
"So tell me, Rem. Whaddya know of a girl named Saeja?" he suddenly asked. For some reason, the girl poked his intrest enough to want to pick up the local gossip on her. "Shes going with me on my little trip, and I'd like to know something about her before I trust her with my head." |
Rem listened patiently through his story, hanging on every word, quite interested. He paused when he heard mention of Saeja and glanced up towards the back of the tavern, toward the section that was boxed off from the rafters. He quickly glanced back down to look at Solemente. "So ye takin' her on a trip like that?" He thought for a moment and picked up another glass, spitting on the towel, and cleaning it.
"No you fool.. don't.", Saeja said quietly. She didn't want someone like that to know about her. She didn't want anyone to really know about her. "Sweet kid. A runaway though.", he said firmly. "I met her a few years ago. She told me she's a mix breed. I think it was... let's see... half wood elf, half high? Iunno really. She just said that she was an outcast and got tired of it. Don't blame 'er at all really. Just isn't all that great she's alone in the world though.", he paused and sighed. "She wouldn't admit it to ye, but I can tell she's lonely. Needs someone really. Someone like a father really, she doesn't get on well with women folk." He sat the glass down and picked another glass up, cleaning. "Anythin' else?" Saeja growled to herself, growing irritated at Rem as she stewed in her own juices, so to speak. How could he do that to her after all the money she's given him? She muttered to herself some curses in elven and sighed. She really couldn't stop what they were saying, Solamente wouldn't allow her to do it, and she knew it. She just continued to listen quietly, annoyed. |
Solamente's ears caught the harsh growl emitting from the rafters, and grinned very wickedly. "Yeah..If I were you, I'd sleep with your eyes open tonight." he said, then took a deep swig of the drink and pointed upward, to the rafters above. He stood up, and said "You enjoy your night, Rem. You too, Saeja." he said, then stalked back upstairs. The bottle sat on the counter, completely drained. Solamente chuckled to himself, then sat down in the hallway. He didn't feel like sleeping now, he had things to think about. Pulling a cigarette from his pocket, he puffed on it unlit as he pulled a piece of paper from his robe.
"Mission #5043, Type S. High Priority, Low Security. Hunter #2426 Your mission is to gain acess to and explore ruins outside of a small town in the Kayua Mountain region. The town is in the frozen wastelands in that area, and will be difficult to reach. The amount of Damned and Corrupted Humans are unknown, but we suggest you prepare for a several week sortie. This is one of the only missions you are not only allowed, but it is highly suggested, you seek aid. We cannot send reinforcements at this time. Godspeed, Janisun Halvos." Solamente pondered over his mission again, then pushed the paper back into his robes. "Several week sortie..Hmm..Whatever. I'll kill em all." he said as he pulled a lighter from a pocket and set the tip of the cigarette ablaze. |
Saeja about fell from the rafters when Solamente mentioned her name. She muttered under her breath and returned to sulking.
Rem glanced up at Saeja who was sitting there, arms crossed, glaring down at him. He let ut a boisterous laughter that echoed through the entire tavern. He grabbed the bottle and put it away as he wiped the bar where Solemente sat, cleaning any spilled alcohol up. Saeja then quietly stood up on the rafter and walked like a trapeze artist, slipping her way through the different levels of wood, ducking and dodging before she climbed over the wall and was back in the confines of her 'room'. She continued muttering to herself like a defeated child and pulled the throwing knife from her boot and in a quick sweep she twirled around and threw it overhanded towards the other side of the wall, nailing a target she had placed for herself right in the center. She giggled to herself rather proudly and walked over to her cot, unclasping her belt and dropping it to the floor. She then climbed onto the cot and put her head on the pillow as she stared at the cieling with a deep sigh. As much as she hated to admit it, Rem was right. |
Solamente sighed in the semi-darkness, and said "I am so not getting any sleep tonight.." with a chuckle. He leaned his head against the wall, and began to fiddle with his fingers. Every so often, a white letter would pop out of a surface, turning the hallway into a blaze of white light for a moment, then disappearing. He amused himself by writing odd things on the wall in this fashion for a bit, then smirked as he remembered a similar experiance with his children.
It had been on some of the older orphans, the ones who'd lived on the streets for years and never had the benefit of a proper education. Most of them didn't even know how to read. So he sat a small group of them down, and held their attention by creating glowing phrases and letters for them to learn. It had worked like a charm. Most of them had walked out of the room that day with vastly improved reading skills. The spell kept their attentions long enough for them to get the lesson into their heads. He twitched his finger slightly, suddenly missing his church. He wanted to be back, to sit down in his big chair in the children's play room and listen to them chatter and giggle and argue over toys and petty things, ignorant of the world beyond those walls. The older ones of the bunch had already expressed intrests in becoming Priests, and Solamente had made promises to two to teach them himself. He wanted to stand up, bolt out of the inn and go back, to keep them safe..But here, he was fufilling a greater purpose, one that needed fufilling. Maybe after this, he'd retire from the Hunter job. Hang up his cannon, so to speak, and retire to the quiet life of his little orphanage.. But no. He steeled himself in the darkness. He'd come too close to hell to live a normal life. He made a vow to protect the innocent from the unholy till the life left his body, and his soul burned. He'd fufill that vow..For his children. For the children of the world. For all the innocent souls who could still smile and honest, unforced smile. He felt, in that moment, like taking on Satan himself. He chuckled in the hallway, and took another puff. |
Saeja tossed back and forth on the bed, not able to get what Rem said out of her head. She yelled out, "Alright already!!", to no one. She got up, got her belt on quickly and grabbed her knife from the wall, shoving it into her boot. She stepped down onto the ladder and let herself slide down it to the floor with a thunk. She stormed past the bar where Rem had his back to her and up the stairs quickly, stomping loudly.
As soon as she turned the corner and saw him she started, "Alright you! I'm not some lonely little girl who needs someone to be her daddy! Just who do you think you are asking bout me?! Huh?!" She was on the defensive. She walked up and stood in front of Solamente, jerking the cigarette from his mouth and dropping it onto the ground, stepping on it as she put her hands on her hips. Suddenly she had gotten bolder than ever and she didn't care just how much bigger this man was compared to her, she was older than him and she knew it. Even if her mentality was lacking. Of course with no education, living on your own, and never having proper raising, an elf at her age was a pretty sad sight. She tapped her foot as if waiting on him to say something. |
Solamente looked up at Saeja, then grinned slightly. "You wouldn't belive how many of my orphans said the exact same thing to me the very first day I met them." he said, then closed his eyes. He didn't really care Saeja was looking for a verbal fight, nor that she was bolder. He really wanted to just relax. He slowly pushed up, standing tall against the wall to his back. "I belive I was quite clear on why I asked about you. Tomarrow we are going to be trekking through freezing snow and ice and probably some water to. I was just making sure you wern't a person with a reputation for stabbing people in the back. I'd rather not die out in this god forsaken tundra. I've got children who need me, and I'm going to take every precaution to make sure I come back ALIVE to them. Now, if thats all you needed to say, I would like to think." he said, slowly and calmly. He slumped back down and picked up the smashed cigarette, and put it back in his mouth and proceeded to re-light it.
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"I'm not a killer. At all.", she stated flatly, for the first time dead serious. With a sigh Saeja hit the wall beside him with her fist. She was so infuriated at the fact that he was acting so casual about everything. She was a bit puzzled by the orphan statement, but didn't ask. She didn't want to act like she cared. She scoffed and stood there, head hanging down with her fist still against the wall as she muttered curses in elven under her breath. She turned sharply and walked towards the stairs and stopped there sighing. She turned again to say something, but stopped. "Arghh!", she exclaimed in frustration. "Why are you so damned calm?!"
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"Because not being calm can kill you." he said, then closed his eyes. "I have stood against armies of demonic beings, hellspawn lords with the power to turn the earth into molten liquid with the touch of their hand and even been given a glimpse into hell itself. I've learned that panic is the enemies greatest weapon." he said, then turned and opened his eyes. "You come face to face with a being made of your worst nightmares and you panic? You end up a corpse, or worse, a slave. Serenity is a great weapon." he said, then took a puff of the cigarette.
"You know what I think?" he said. "You arn't a helpless little girl, no. You're not a woman, eiather. You're getting there. You've had a rough life, and you've adapated your own little gauge of whats right, whats wrong and what pisses you off. You arn't wrong, persay, but you have to experiance life before you can correctly set that gauge." he said, taking a quick puff. "After I'm done with this trip, I'm going back to my church. I have an orphanage there. Come with me. Not to join it, heaven forbid." he raised his hands defensively. "But just stand there for a minute. Watch those children, carefree and innocent. Watch them, who were thrown away or abandoned, play with their toys and read, and do everything they missed out on." He stopped for a minute, then said "It gives you a whole new angle on life." he said. "Thats what I fight for, Saeja. I do this damning job to keep the smiles on their faces, to keep that innocence lasting just a little bit longer." and then chuckled. "Thats why I don't panic. Thats why I'm so calm. Thats why you will never see me give up. I just think of my children, and press on." he said, and put his hands down. "Answer your question?" |
She stood there in silence, watching Solamente. For once, she had no words. She was actually hurt. She turned sharply in the hallway before her eyes watered and rushed down the stairs and across the floor back to her cot where she threw herself onto it, buring her face in her pillow. She didn't want to hear about things other children missed out on. Those things she missed out on herself. Why should she care about those children? Why should he care about them? No one really cares about anyone without getting something in return. It didn't make any sense. She began to cry softly to herself. She only cried when she was alone, and very seldom.
With a sigh Rem put the remaining glasses he had been working on away, listening to Saeja's sobs in the deserted tavern, save for the two at the end of the bar who seemed to be caught up in their own world to not notice the goings on around them. There wasn't anything he could do, and he wasn't sure what made her cry, but he has heard it before when they would talk about her dreams and hopes and she would go to bed. That's when he'd hear her cry. Crying for a home, for a life. "A sad child indeed...", he said quietly as he put the tip jar under the counter. |
Solamente cringed, well able to hear her sobs. One of his weaknesses was crying, even moreso when he had partially caused it. He stood up slowly, tossed the cigarette onto the ground and smashed it with his heel. He turned and walked towards the stairs. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't kill yourself." he said as he entered the bar. With a haggered sigh, he glanced around for a ladder or a rope..Ah, there it was. South corner. His ears picked up the area where the sobs were coming from and he said "Excuse me, Rem.." and calmly stalked across the barr. He grabbed onto the ladder and quickly climbed up it, his robe swirling as he did. He stepped onto the beams with creak, and quietly stepped over them. He reached a small, boxed in portion of the rafter and raised his hand. He gave a soft knock, then simply walked in.
He turned to face Saeja, then sighed and put his hand over his eyes. He stepped over to her bed, and sat down on the edge of it. With a practiced movement, he placed his hand on the middle of her back and patted it gently. He waited a bit, then simply said "I'm sorry." to her. |
Saeja tensed up as she slowly fell silent, kind of uncomfortable that someone was showing her any type of care at all. She shook her head, keeping her face buried in the pillow, "I'm.. fine. Really." She tried to stiffle her sobs as she lifted herself onto her elbows, wiping her eyes. "Just.. not feeling good." She turned her head to look at him and forced a smile. She was lying. She was hurt. She wanted to punch him, but she wanted to cry even more that he was showing affection to her. She was confused.
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"Liar." he said suddenly, with a sad smile. He suddenly slid one arm under her, then lifted her into a soft hug, ignoring any protest she could raise. "Now. Now more crying, or I'll make ya carry my stuff tomarrow. Cannon included." he said with a chuckle. He lifted his hand and patted her head, then gave her a quick noogie. After a moment, he set he back down and said "Feel a little better?" and then patted her head again. He was used to dealing with children, just most of them wern't this big.
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Saeja stared at Solamente, a bit confused and decided not to say anything else because she felt really strange with how he was treating her, so she just laid down on the bed and looked up at him. "Yeah, I think so.", she said quietly. Saeja was quite the interesting person though. She was in fact, around the age of 89-100, she stopped counting ages ago. Every now and again she'll think to count. Her appearance would decieve those if she had a hood up because her face was very human like. She appeared to be a 17 year old, athletic human, if were it not for her pointed ears. Though her mentality still centered around a 13 year old child when she was emotional. She hadn't been taught to control emotions and how to vent them by anyone like a parent. Rem was the closest thing she had to such, and well, looking at him, that wasn't much. However when she fought she was like a machine. She never gave up, and was an expert with close combat with dual-wielding her kukris. She turned on her side a bit and just listened to Solamente's breathing above her, it echoing in her pointed ears.
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Solamente smirked slightly down at her, and said "Alright then." with a floaty tone to it. He stood up, then said "Well..I'm off to..." he said, then stopped. A smirk crossed his face. Oh this was going to be fun. Quickly, he reached down and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, and lifted her from the bed. He then grabbed her pillow, turned around and walked out the door. He carried her across the beams in what could only be a gut wrenching fashion, and then instead of climbing, he dropped halfway down the ladder and then down the entire way from there. He hit the floor with a thumb, ignoring anything Saeja was doing, and carried her to the stairs. "Goodnight, Rem. Saeja would say goodnight too, but shes too busy cursing me and my mother." he said with a smirk, then carried her up the stairs.
Across the floor, to his door which he then opened, and he walked inside. He shut the door, then walked over to his bed and set Saeja down, took his pillow off and put hers down. "Before you ask, I'm sleeping on the floor. This way I have someone to talk to, And I don't have to go through the process of finding you in the morning." he said, grinning madly. He tossed his pillow on the floor, infront of the door and quietly laid down. He put his hands behind his head, and settled into the spot. After a few moments, he said "So tell me something about yourself. Anything. Just talk." he said, closing his eyes slightly. |
When Solamente pulled Saeja from the bed, it was like the entire tavern come to life. She started screaming and causing all sorts of racket. She was not happy, at all. The whole time that Solamente carried Saeja she screamed enough to wake everyone in the inn. "YA CRAZY PRIEST!! PUT ME DOWN!", she yelled, kicking her legs franticly.
Rem stared at Solamente taking Saeja up the steps with an arched brow. He figured she had done something to him after she stopped crying up there and was about to get what was coming to her. He chuckled slightly thinking to himself. There was no way a priest would hurt a girl who seemed so young. Would he? He arched another brow and peered over the bar, watching them move up the stairs. He knew Saeja could hold her own, if she kept her emotions in check that is. Otherwise, she was screwed. In the room, she sat up on the bed with an irritated look on her face as she watched me lay down on the floor blocking her way out. She remembered the windows were covered in bars so she knew she couldn't get out without blasting a hole in the wall, and well, she wasn't a magic user to be able to do that. She was nothing but a rogue/thief, and she held some characteristics of a ranger because she could adapt to the wild easily, thanks to her wood elf roots. She let out a heavy sigh and threw a stray pillow his way and growled. "I don't know what to say. What do ya wanna know? What's it to ya anyways? Soon as we're done with the ruin place, I'm outta here anyways and won't see ya again." |
Solamente chuckled and said "Oh I'm hurt." he said, then sighed. "Because. We're probably going to be spending the next few days togather, and it would be helpful if we knew something besides our names. G'head. Ask me something." he said, then opened an eye. "I'll answer juuuust about anything. Only catch is, for every two questions you ask, I get to ask one. Deal?" he said. A little game he'd played with the newer children often, and it tended to work. He felt it was important, somehow, to find out something about this girl. Call it his priestly intuition, but she was going to prove far more valuable then a simple companion for the trip, he reasoned.
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She shruged, she could live with that she guessed. "Alright.. why the sudden interest in me..? Oh, and why do ya have so many children? Why not let them fight for themselves?", she got right to the point and yawned as she stretched on the bed unclicking her belt and dropping it beside her on the floor, pulling a throwing knife from her boot and sitting it on the dresser beside the bed.
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"Because you're an interesting person?" he said, somewhat lamely. He didn't really have a good excuse for prying into her life like this, so he would accept whatever 'The hells' came from that. "Why do I have to many children?" he repeated, chuckling. "In my..Travels, I come across families who have been destroyed by demons. Sometimes, not always, a child is smart enough to hide from them. Most demons can't 'sense' children, their souls arn't fully 'developed' yet, so they ignore them. I find these children. Can you imagine? Some of them hide for weeks, no food, no water..Waiting to die. Some of them are forced to watch their parents raped or devoured by the demons in their hiding places. I've come across children who are so scarred that they tried to kill ME when I find them." he said, a tone of sadness etched into every word.
"These children wouldn't have a chance in this world without some form of help. So I take them to my church. When I'm their, I teach them practical things. Reading, Writing, Scripture. When I'm away, a friend and fellow Father fills in for me. They heal there, protected from the world. When their ready, I find them foster parents, and their on there own. Some, like two of the boys, want to become priests or nuns and help me." he said. "These children can't fight. They can't stand on their own feet, they can't breathe some nights without help. They've seen horrors most adults don't want to see, and worse yet, had to live. I heal them, I shelter them and I teach them." he added, then turned his head to Saeja. "So now, my question. How did you meet Rem?" he said. Best to start off slow with the questions, and build into bigger stuff from there. |
She closed her eyes as she talked, she found she was more comfortable talking about personal things that way. "It was a few years ago. I had a run in with these things.. creatures, I dunno. They weren't human, elf, or any other species that walked normally in life like we do. I guess they'd be called spawns of hell.", she shook her head. "I still remember the look on the big one's face. He had red eyes, and claws... I was too afraid to fight for once and I got pretty banged up. Rem found me lying in the snow, bleeding to death when he went to close the shutters to the tavern while closing up. Said he rushed outside and I had already passed out from blood lose. I dunno how much of it's true. Don't really care. He took care of me unti l iwas well, and now I come in often and stay, and pay him for certain things.", she opened her eyes once again to glance over to Solamente, hoping that was enough to satisfy him. She put a hand on her stomach over her clothing and shuddered slightly, beneath her clothes was a four large scars from one side of her stomach to the other where she had been sliced open.
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Solamente nodded along, shaking his head slightly. He brought a hand to his face, and rubbed the scars there. The only time he'd ever been scarred in his long career of demon hunting. "I see. He's a good man, if a bit..How might I put this..Crude?" he said, grinning. He adjusted himself again, and sat up. He pulled his black robe off the nearby chair and covered himself with it like a blanket, settling in. "So, I doubt those two questions satisfied you. Lets continue, shall we? We've got a long time till sunrise." he said, grinning. He felt like he only could when he was dealing with an overactive child.
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Saeja rubbed her eyes and thought for a moment, "Why do you fight demons...?", she said that so simply, but she actually had a deep meaning behind it. She wanted to know what pushed him to fight like that, before the children. Saeja might appear to be a high strung child, but she is up in her years, but still a mere babe by elf standards, and is quite serious when she allows herself to be. She thought some more before he answered and said, "Where is your family?", she said finally.
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Sola grimaced slightly, hoping she'd have held off on that question for a while. "I'll answer both of those questions for you." he said, then closed his eyes tightly. "I was twelve. My family was reletively well off. We lived in a quiet village, I was studying to be like my father, a preacher. One night, the village was overrun. Demons, commanded by some god forsaken Wizard who got a little too smart. Anyway. My father and mother were the last to go, and they protected me to the bitter end. My father, with his dying breath, threw himself onto a claw aimed for me and grabbed it. He literally grabbed this demon's hand to prevent him from moving and turned to face me. I'll never forget the fire that burned in his eyes in that moment. He told me to fight. And thats exactly what I did. I picked up my father's pistol and I proceeded to kill four pitspawn by myself. I don't even remember doing it. I was in a daze for days. I was found by another Priest, who was coming to visit my father. I was found wandering in the town, eyes glazed and my body wounded and weak. I was taken to a chapel, where I was nursed back to health, both mental and otherwise. I awoken in a bed, being tended to by a nun. From that day forth, I dedicated myself to preventing what happend to me. Preventing another child's parents from being slaughtered infront of them."
He sighed and opened his eyes. "I hunt for myself, I hunt for the children. I hunt for what I never had in my life, and I hunt for what I can protect." |
Saeja looked at Solamente for a long time, her eyes filled with mixed emotions. She felt an odd sense of respect for the man lying on the floor at the door. She actually felt guilty for trying to rob him. She never really thought of who the person she was robbing was, she just did it. She wasn't really the type to steal without using it for useful purposes. She stole to survive, even if she did have an obsession with shiny things, but those shiny things brought her money to feed her. She actually could sympathize with him. "So you didn't have parents either...", she said to herself without realizing it, thinking aloud, not exactly to him. She turned on her side with her back to him and thought to herself for a moment pulling off her fingerless gloves and studying the scars on the palms of her hands.
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Solamente sighed softly, and opened his eyes. "More or less. I atleast got to know mine." he said. He shifted again, trying to find a comfortable spot on the flooring. "Now then.." he said, leaning against the door slightly. He felt even more curious now, but decided to once more go the easier route to the harder questions. "So where exactly are you from? Elves arn't really common in any place I've been in, really." he said, hoping she would let something slip with this question. He enjoyed this little 'game', as it were, with his orphans. Ask a simple question, somethings bound to slip out.
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She looked up from her hands at the window with bars at the snow starting to fall again outside. "Not from here, or anywhere near here. Most elves stay hidden in the forests to the southeast I guess.", she paused and turned onto her back, slipping the gloves back onto her hands, letting her fingers come out the holes. Maybe she was getting comfortable, or maybe it was because she was half asleep, but either way she was becoming more talkative about things. Usually Rem would find out all he knew from her when she was half asleep down in the tavern. "I left the forests. There wasn't anythin for me there. Just a bunch of stuck up pure bloods.", she growled ot herself as she continued, "Wasn't wanted anyways, even before they died. So it doesn't matter." She began to pull on the leather straps that wrapped around her torso on her outfit as if fidgeting, forgetting all about asking him anything.
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"I see..So.." he said, closing his eyes partially and thinking. Who had died? Maybe it was rushing it, but it would probably be the only time she'd tell him..And besides, she hadn't asked any questions. "Who died?" he asked softly. He had a twitching feeling he knew who had died, but his feelings tended to be off seventy percent of the time. When they wern't, they were dead on. He waited, suddenly filled with the memories of the previous children he'd had this very same sort of talk with. It ended in them both knowing each other a lot better, and generally made things more plesent.
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"Mom and dad.", she said bluntly without thinking. "Mom was a wood elf, loved to teach me how to be a ranger.. taught me how to use my bow and arrows. Dad... well he was one of the council's high elf ambassadors in our clan.. he was a wizard... he was taught to use magic, not like the enchanters who were born with it.. I wanted to learn.. but I wasn't old enough...", she sighed.
" My parents being together was forbidden, but he pulled strings. But when I came, no one wanted me. I was a mix breed. Pfft. Stupid.", she stared at the cieling thinking for a moment as she shuddered slightly, her eyes glazed over by a haze of hatred and exhaustion. |
Solamente shook his head slightly and then nodded at the end of her speech. "I'm inclined to agree." he said softly. He'd dealt with a lot, but this situation was somewhat new to him. He sat up in the darkness, and sighed slightly. "You've had a rough life, I take it." he said. It was almost a stupid question, he mused, because it was obvious she had. He shook his head and glanced out the window, then said "It's getting late.." he mumbled, feeling a tad tired himself. Saeja was probably exhausted, he thought, and said "You feel like going to sleep?"
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She glanced over at him, realizing she said more than she should have, but was able to keep a lot under wraps and nodded slowly. "I'm usually asleep now...", she said with a yawn. She turned fully to her side and let her arm dangle from the bed as she closed her eyes, resting her head on the pillow, curling her legs up in an almost fetal position. She yawned again, "How early are we supposed ta go?"
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"In the morning..Whenever everyone is awake, I suppose." he said, then closed his eyes and laid back down. "But I'll be up pretty early, so you can bet you're getting up early too." he said, grinning wickedly. He chuckled in the dark, then rolled onto his side, facing the wall and yawned. "Good night." he said simply, before drifting off. Hopefully, he mused, he wouldn't be awoken by any dreams.
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Saeja didn't even hear what he said about waking up early because she was already fast asleep, mumbling a few words in elven every now and again, before falling completely silent, drifting into a deeper sleep.
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