A Wyverness and a Wimp (For Addy):

[Talus]

Talus hadn't really planned on staying in Bern for long. This had only been a quick stop meant to restock supplies, but by the time he got to Bern, it was already dusk, meaning he had to stay the night there.
He sighed as he walked home from the local bar back to the inn. No interesting jobs there that he could take. He hoped that in the next town, he'd have better luck hunting for jobs.
So on his way back, he heard a familliar sound that always meant trouble.
Specifically the sound of drunken brutes accosting a unwilling lady from a nearby alley.
He sighed. Being a good man wasn't easy, but it was fulfilling enough for him.
He walked over there, doing his best to exude prescence.
"Alright gents. What's the bloody problem? She said no, so back off." he said, feeling a sense of deja vu as he did so, examining the scene.
To be frank, the woman was fairly attractive. A bit muscular for his tastes, but other wise, not too bad looking. The two thugs, on the other hand, looked to be a pair of drunk thieves. He could faintly see a dagger sheathed in their cloaks, and hoped to god that this wouldn't turn bloody. Thieves were quick, even when drunk, so he had to keep his guard off, doubly so if he wanted to walk away from this with all his valuables intact and on his person. Just like Victor had taught him, he readied a spellcasting stance in case either of the thieves tried anything funny.

[Adelaide]

Adelaide had only been jumped once before in her life. This time was no different in that both men were drunk off their posteriors. This time contrasted with the first in that both men were baring daggers, their hands clutching the sheaths abnormally tightly. The daggers didn't look particularly sharp, and, by Adelaide's predictions, probably on the verge of breaking, but she wasn't wearing her armor at the moment. That was stowed away in her room at the inn, and naturally, Astoria was tethered on a sturdy post on the outskirts of the city, near the other wyvern pens that the military used.

Regardless, Adelaide's rugged red tunic wouldn't do a great job of repelling any dagger strikes. She had learned ample self defense during her short tenure in the Bernese military, but it was just her luck that she had left her lance in the room in addition to her armor. She could probably knock out one of the thieves if she got lucky with a well-aimed punch to the face or solar plexus, but she would naturally be skewered by the other one, and vice versa.

"Ho, pretty girl! Whatcha doin' out here all by your lonesome, luv?" one of them said in a drunken lower-class slur.

"We just wanna have some fun wiv ya!" piped up the other one. Both men were cloaked, so it wasn't easy to make out their faces, but Adelaide could tell that neither of the two were the least bit attractive.

"The only fun we'll be having is me pounding your sorry carcass into the dust!" Adelaide shouted back. One of the men chuckled heartily, then made a threatening gesture with his dagger, causing Adelaide to involuntarily flinch. Why oh why was she unarmed at a time like this?

Then an unfamiliar voice assailed the air, fraught with inflections of purpose and determination, breaking the thieves' concentration momentarily. The speaker was young and wore a white robe.

By the gods, Adelaide thought silently to herself. A freaking priest is trying to be all high and mighty, no doubt to win the wiles of a woman. How bloody typical.

The supposed elder of the two thieves wheeled around, facing the robe-clad newcomer. "An' just what are you gonna do about that, huh? She knows she wants i- OW!"

Adelaide had sprung into action, having aimed a kick at the first thief's spine while his back was turned. The second thief raised his weapon threateningly, entering into a combat stance in tandem with Adelaide. As for the newcomer... he appeared to have the stance of a mage, perhaps an acolyte.

Blindly, the first thief turned and aimed at Adelaide, but the latter sidestepped. However, he was quick. Thieves were fast even when drunk.

[Talus]

He would have responded with a quip of his own, but the woman's kick served to make it redundant.
That was a pretty solid kick, too. Victor would have been proud of that kind of strength. She was holding her own as well, but her second kick missed, and the thief, even though he missed too, was still fairly deadly.
This was gonna be a bit easier to deal with than he thought.
"Back off." he said as he blasted a quick gust of wind at the thief, knocking them down. Not quite out, though, but he was definitely stunned.
Talus then followed up with a simple, yet highly effective tactic once he got close.
He smacked the thief in the head with his fairly heavy tome. Not enough to cause any lasting harm, but enough to knock him out hard.
That was when he noticed the second thief she had kicked earlier getting up from behind her, ready to stab her.
"Behind you!" he yelled, already beginning to cast a spell as fast as he could. The question now is how fast she would react, and how. If she dodged it in time, he could get a clear shot at the thief, otherwise he'd have to take his chances and pray to God that he didn't hit her instead with his magic. If she tried to counterattack,it'd be riskier, but at least then he wouldn't have to risk hitting her as well in the proccess of trying to stop the thief.

[Adelaide]

Adelaide watched the next series of events unfurl in the aftermath of her kick. She aimed a second kick that ultimately whiffed, and the thief, still dazed, attempted to swing his dagger blindly, vaguely into Adelaide's direction. She avoided it with some effort, though the tip managed to barely graze her side. However, upon closer inspection, it didn't even break skin, and barely even tore the fabric of her red tunic. Still, it was enough to incur her wrath. Except for the newcomer had already sprung into action.

He appeared to be a mage rather than a priest, but damn, he still looked the part. Adelaide would have to be sure to comment on that once this senseless fracas had concluded. In response to the man's shouting, Adelaide managed to duck in the nick of time as a prepared wind spell came whooshing overhead. That would have been problematic had she been airborne. For another split-second, she debated on tripping the remaining thief with a pendulum kick, but later deduced that it wouldn't be such a good idea, as the thief was indeed in optimum striking range with his dagger.

Despite this, she opted to kick him anyway, causing him to lose his footing right as the young man's second spell connected with the miscreant.

"Die, damn you!" Adelaide cried.

[Talus]

He watched her proceed to utterly rip apart the two men with a scary amount of brutality. Victor, he figured, would have loved this.

He, on the other hand, was equal parts scared and amazed. He almost felt bad for the two thieves now that he watched her beat the living daylights out of them.

Part of him honestly wanted to get out of there right now. Part of him also said that this was a bad idea.
Although... now that he could see her movements, something about them reminded him of Victor's unarmed combat fighting style... although the moves were somewhat different, and the fact she was doing a lot more kicks then he did (as a matter of fact, now that he thought about it, Victor couldn't really kick with a gimp leg).
Although the battle cry was a bit much for his tastes. He had seen girls as tomboyish as her before, nome of them were nearly as violent as her.
"Um... isn't that a bit much..?" he asked her, all the while mentally assigning her to his mental list of people he would never ever piss off.
After all,if she could this unarmed, he would hate to see what she could do when armed, and intuition told him it was probably something large and painful.
Like her, for example. He dared not voice those thoughts of her, though, lest he be included as a target of her rampage. He was still in a state of shock and awe to act at the moment.

[Adelaide]

As the second thief hit the ground with a resounding thump, Adelaide whirled around to face her untimely newcomer. He seemed competent enough as a mage, but Adelaide wasn't in the market for someone to come sashaying down the aisle to sweep her up and ride off into the sunset. This wasn't that kind of scenario.

"Is what a bit much?" Adelaide asked in a fairly stoic voice. "That little display, you mean? I'm not about to allow a man to do as he pleases with me. He could just go to a bloody brothel with money he earned rather than accost a woman on a walk. Pathetic," she continued, seething.

She ruefully aimed a tiny kick at one of the unconscious men's head as if to emphasize her point. It did no damage other than made it turn a bit on its axis. Then she smoothed her tunic, scraping bits of dust and grime off of it. Her hair was a ratty mess that airborne robins might have mistaken for a potential nest, but this was commonplace, as it was a hard mane to tame. Finally, she turned to the white-robed priest-mage hybrid who had come to her untimely rescue.

"Let me guess. You 'came to my rescue' and you want a 'reward' for it, yeah? Hmph." Adelaide shook her head somewhat indignantly. "Men are so predictable."

[Talus]

He was going to further snap back at the violence, but she still had a point, so he held his tounge for the most part.
"True, but they are drunk, you could've just knocked them out and that would have been the end of it. No need to kick them while they're down. Hell, they probably aren't going to even remember this by the time they regain conciousness... although they will have one helluva a headache once they do." he said, watching as she brushed herself up.

Her next words were not entirely wrong. He did help her, but mostly because it was in his nature to, not becaus ethereal was a potential reward (although it was a nice side benefit). He had a feeling th I ugh that saying that would be a bad idea, that he'd probably be disbelieved.
Either way, nothing ventured,nothing gained.
"I thought you might need help, and I was raised to help someone who might be in need of such things. Not because there is a reward. Also, I hate people who think they can do whatever the damned hell they please without regard for others because they think they're so right. Feel free to call me out as self-righteous, but at least I admit it, and I at least try and think about how my actions affect others." he said to her in response. Frankly, she was quickly becoming one of the most tomboyish women he'd ever met.
Would it kill her to at least thank him?

[Adelaide]

"Well, no kidding. I mean, getting drunk is fun once in a while, but at least I don't have incentive to bang every guy I meet. Double standards are for losers," Adelaide said sternly. "I don't envy those hangovers though."

Adelaide crossed her arms about her chest. This young man seemed genuine, perhaps even well-intentioned, but she couldn't fathom his true intentions. He claimed not to be self-righteous, but perhaps this was a matter of being self-righteous anyway. She supposed she appreciated the way the words flowed from his mouth, though. Perhaps he was a choice cut above the usual rabble she concerned herself with.

"I can take care of myself, you know, but I suppose I'd do the same if you were in my situation. In that case... thanks," Adelaide admitted. She didn't pride herself on being tomboyish or standoffish, but the fact of the matter was that she refused to be stereotyped. Then again it didn't seem like this newcomer truly condoned such things to begin with. Perhaps he was in it for the whole swathe of perks that came with being selfless.

"Adelaide's the name, if you were curious," Adelaide conceded. "And yes, you are self-righteous, perhaps even thick. But I'll take your gesture as a compliment. So... what brings you to an alley this late at night? Damsel in distress? Aimless wandering?"

[Talus]

"Neither do I envy them. I can't drink alcohol though, so I wouldn't know what getting drunk feels like. My body is rather allergic to the stuff, you see. My father is allergic as well. Guess I got it from him, then. Not that it matters, I mean, I've heard the beer tastes bad. he said. The fact was that he really was allergic to alcohol.
Depending on who you asked, was a blessing or a curse.

His father was allergic as well to alcohol, and he had inherited it from him . Victor had considered it almost a blessing since it meant the boy could never get into bad situations that would surely happen if he got drunk.

Then,to his pleasant suprise, she thanked him.
"I can see that. You pulled a few moves back there my old combat instructor would be proud of. You almost remind me of him, actually, considering your fighting style. Albiet, he didn't use those kinds of kicks. Oh, and you're welcome as well." he remarked.
In the proccess, he learned her name was Adeliade.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Talus. Mind if I call you Addy?"[/blue] he said.
Although he was slightly insulted by her remark that he had pretty much admitted to, he just decided to let this one go.
As for just what he was doing there...
"Bit of both, actually. I was originally heading back to my inn room when I found you in the alley, and then well, the rest you know already." he said to her.

[Adelaide]

"What's the matter?" asked Adelaide. "Can't hold your liquor? Heh." This was a paltry attempt at a humble brag, although it may have backfired since this newcomer was fairly matter-of-fact. Adelaide was not a lily-livered individual, and she had out-drank nearly half of her battalion when she was stationed within it. It was a marvel to behold back when she cared to prove her worth. Now, she felt that her worth need only be proven to herself. Nobody else needed her approval, and vice versa. Except maybe her wyvern Astoria's, but that was to be assumed given the forced companionship between them.

"Talus," nodded Adelaide. "No, you'll call me Adelaide. Addy sounds belittling. Nothing personal," she added with a slightly indecent tone laced within her voice. She hated nicknames and vastly preferred her full name, however long it was by contemporary standards. Moreover, nicknames felt disrespectful. She was sick of being disrespected. Still, Talus' intention surely can't have been that malign.

"I suppose you'll be going then?" asked Adelaide, turning to the side ever so slightly. "Didn't need the help. I can take care of myself. But I guess I should be thankful."

With that, she turned away, though Talus appeared to be trying to get her attention again. She still didn't know if he was a priest or a mage.

[Talus]

"No, well yes,because I- oh. That was a joke. Oops." he said after a moment when she said that. Victor used to often say that the number of jokes that flew over Talus's head were almsot as much as a pegasus had feathers on its wings.
Talus didn't get that one either st the time, and spent several hours trying to find out just how many feathers were on a pegasus's wings.
He didn't find out how many. There were sadly few books on the subject.
So she didn't like being called Addy. Well, some people were just like that, he supposed.

She was about to go, and he would have said goodbye to her then and there,but then, something hit him.
Far off in some corner of his foggy memory, something lit up.
Now he knew what that fighting type might have been. He remembered asking Victor on the subject of combat styles once, and Victor had told him that what he was using was a modified form of military unarmed combat techniques that he developed since he couldn't use one of his legs nearly as well anymore.

"Say, I know this might seem a bit personal, and a bit weird since i'm also a mage, but that fighting style of melee you did earlier... is that military? A old teacher of mine used it back in mage school, see, and the way you fight unarmed reminds me of his style. I'm just curious, really." he said to her.

[Adelaide]

Adelaide stopped stock-still as she turned away. At this point, she wanted nothing more than a warm bed, a tall flagon of ale, and maybe a hearty venison stew. But Talus had asked her a personal question - which she normally detested, but given her combative nature, she felt obliged to answer a question regarding her military background.

"Yeah, and what of it?" Adelaide asked bracingly. "You like that, wait until you see me with a lance."

She hadn't fully turned around, but she had been casting a sidelong glance at the young mage. It was a true assumption that she was far from the conversing mood, but she also didn't want to lock eyes with her untimely rescuer. No vulnerability, no remorse, no need for compassion. Shake it off, move on.

But this wasn't such an occasion. Her feet had been planted to the ground for a while now, and simply leaving would be a questionable action. Then again she had so willingly walked out on many men before, so why would this scenario be any different? The only contrast was that Talus didn't have a bowl of porridge affixed to his face. Adelaide still hadn't forgiven the man she had done that to since he had commented inappropriately on her physique.

"So, you're a mage, hm?" Adelaide said. "Thought you were a priest in that getup."

[Talus]

Uh-oh. Sudden stops weren't a good thing. The tone of her voice suggested that he'd better tread carefully,lest he have a lance lodged somewhere... unkind, to say the least. She sounded like she knew how to use it, too. The lack of eye contact also suggested that it was something that she didn't usually like talking about either.
"Just curious, although I don't doubt your skill with a lance. Like I said, a old teacher of mine is ex-military as well, and your fighting style reminds me of his. Albiet, he didn't use nearly as many kicks as you did. He mostly just punched as hard as you could kick." he said.
"Not surprising, considering his right leg being gimp, in hindsight. He probably couldn't maintain the balance needed to perform such kicks once he broke it..." he thought.
It was Addy who again snapped him out of his train of thought.
"Yeah, I am. Most people tend to think i'm a priest though. It's the robes, isn't it? Gah, I knew I shouldn't have grabbed the first robe that caught my eye..."he said.
"Anyway, that's all I wanted to ask you. See you around, then, Adeliade. Try not getting yourself killed, alright?" he said as he waved goodbye.
She was certainly an interesting sort of person.
She seems more like the sort of person Victor would get along with better, though. he thought to himself as he walked back to his room in the inn. The cool night air made for a pleasant stroll back.
Just another day in the life for him.
Talus withdraws cooly.