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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2017 22:52:15 GMT -6
Nightingale watched the concerned villager hurry away to speak with his fellows about what had transpired and she waved to him as he went. "Hmm? What's that about what we should do?" She pretended to ponder the idea. Oh, there was NO way she was going to stick around here or face off against a group of angry meatheads, no no no, not happening. Sigma may not have said it directly but it was more than clear enough that he wanted to leave this place to its fate too.
"I don't think I could stand to just leave when I know that it was my actions that will bring this village of innocents into trouble Sigma." She turned to him and clasped his hands between her own. She looked like a maiden in distress from a storybook. "We have to stay to fight and keep them safe!" It was then that the first cracks in her performance appeared as her lips quivered into a smirk and then outright laughter as she let go and doubled over.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you should have SEEN your face though. PRICELESS!" She wiped her eye a few moments later composing herself. "Yeah, no. I don't owe these guys anything. If they can't handle a few bandits on their own and want to let them walk all over them then so be it. That is NOT my problem." She looked around to see an influx of villager activity, it seemed they really were getting riled up about it. "Yeah, I vote we just leave... and quickly before they make the demand we stay. You with me?" She asked but did not wait, she was on the move.
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Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Jun 15, 2017 23:47:33 GMT -6
Oh no, don't tell me she was going to act like the savior of these people... Ugh, now wasn't the time to be a kight in shining armor you know? An entire bandit band would easily skew- Wait why did she grab my han-oh god she's totally fooling around... That little trickster! At least she knew how to keep a joke tasteful and not make it last too long.
Looking around, he smirked a bit: "Glad to see we see eye to eye on this. Better we just leave right now, helping them wouldn't even fix anything considering we're two, better just disappear for now and save our own asses."
Following Nightingale as she walked into the city, they were both aiming for the opposite side of town where they could escape without any worries. However, the sound of a horn could be heard in the adjacent forest. "Huh, would you look at that, the cavalry is here... Ok let's get out of here NOW!" A couple of horse mounted bandits were going towards the village to find them and Sigma did NOT want to be there when they'll start rounding up the villagers. The end of the town was still quite a bit away, they'd have to pick up the pace to reach it without any problems. "Hope you've got some good endurance because we're going to run for a little while if we don't want them knowing where we are." Knowing they'd have to not let more villagers see them because of the rising chance of being sold out to the authorities, he started walking into one of alleyways: "Hey stick with me, I can get us out of here more easily. No cities hold secrets to me, I'll get us out of there faster than any guide you could have I'm warning you."
Going towards an alleyway, he continued to progressively get closer to the exit, taking strange shortcuts which he had come to enjoy to use in Edessa but had to realise that not EVERYTHING worked here when snow couldn't help dissimulating yourself. Hearing the nomads get closer, his face showed a bit of true fear as he picked up the pace once again, hoping for the best.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 0:13:57 GMT -6
The two were no slouches when it came to moving, and moving quick. "You don't travel alone and live this long when you're as stunningly beautiful as I without having a few tricks and a whole lot of stamina!" She retorted playfully. In a weird way a life or death run seemed to really make her mood rise. It was always fun making idiotic people angry and watching them lash out in futility. Yup... good stuff that.
The sounds of horns were, a bit more concerning, and the fact that the bandits had actual cavalry, horseback archers no less. Was that even practical!? As Sigma darted into an alley Nightingale skid to a halt to turn and follow, "A little warning never hurts!" She never made it a habit to do this sort of exercise? over her lifetime thus far so she was no where near as nimble as Sigma with it, but she was able to do well enough not to be left behind.
"I have never looked at a city and seen pathways like this before. I hate to admit it, but you have honestly impressed me Sigma." It was rare after 1000 years that she could meet someone with a valuable skill she did not already master, or at least have some grasp on. If he could teach her to see things as he did, well, it would be most useful. But perhaps that was the key, she did not see the world as he did, making it a talent she would never possess.
As the bandits poured into the town the riders began to circle in order to round the villagers up in a way they could not escape. Not too far behind came the more expected bandit types. The cavalry cleared the way, and now it was time for the invasion force. "SO!" A booming voice rang out. "YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD KILL ONE OF SHARKTOOTH'S MEN AND GET AWAY WITH IT!?"
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Sigma
Thief
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Post by Sigma on Jun 16, 2017 12:40:19 GMT -6
More of them seemed to be entering the town. They had to move fast otherwise they'd probably both end up dead or worse. Sigma knew how to fight a bandit, but definitely not dozens of them... Continuing to traverse the alleyways and smaller streets to reach the end of the city unnoticed, Sigma and Nightingale had reached a point where houses were starting to become much more distant from one another, reducing greatly their ability to hide. He could see the gates maybe about fifty meters away, however three bandits were guarding the exit, trying to stop any missing villagers that may have slipped through the riders's roundup. Damn, walking out of here wasn't going to be that easy. Not only that but those guys looked a lot more dangerous than the grunts they had defeated on the road.
Turning around, he looked a Nightingale as they were both hiding behind a house: "They're blocking the exit. We're going to have to find another way to leave this place..." Looking around, he cataloguing in his head all the possibilities that were presenting themselves to him. The walls around the village were made of large smooth wooden pillars so climbing would be difficult without appropriate gear. However, he was surprised to see a house very close to the walls, an error in the planning perhaps? Anyways, this was their best shot. The building had wooden sticks and planks on the outside used as fortification which could easily be climbed... Well for Sigma at least. He wasn't so sure about her however. Not a lot people were expert climbers (or expert city climbers to be exact).
"I'm gonna speculate for a bit and assume you can't just climb the side of that house with your bare hands... Hmph, okay. Let's go inside and reach the second floor, I've got an idea."
Running towards the house, he motioned to Nightingale to follow him. Now wasn't the time for arguments. If there was one thing Sigma was good at, it was using the city environment to his advantage.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 21:08:50 GMT -6
"BRING US THE ONE THAT DID OUR BOY IN!!!" The bandit who acted as the voice continued on. The villagers all shifted nervously in their huddle knowing that it was none of them. "WELL!!?" His patience was waning.
"Please! It was not us! There were, there were travelers! We told them not to take that path but..." A desperate man began to try and explain, completely ratting the two of them out. He was cut off as the bandit reached into the huddle and pulled him out by his shirt.
"Say it again! But let me make sure I have this right! You tried to stop us from getting our dues? You don't want us to have our steady stream of travelers? Very well, we will make more trips to this village then!" He announced.
"What? No PLEASE THAT IS NOT- " Crack! The bandit struck him across the face with the back of his hand.
"You don't get to speak! So, you try and keep us from having what is RIGHTfully ours, AND FURTHER STILL, don't have the nerve to hold the ones responsible down. Then you get all desperate and try to not take responsibility!" The bandit proceeded to grab the man by the hair and drag him across the dirt. The man screamed incoherently trying to escape but the bandit's grip was too strong. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DECIDE TO PLAY GAMES WITH SHARKTOOTH!!!" The bandit raised his axe before slowly pressing it to the man's neck and sliding it across from jugular to jugular.
Nightingale listened to all of it. To say she was unmoved would be a lie, yet one she would tell, but she was still no fool, and would not act. She shut her eyes to the sounds of it and pretended it was not happening. It was the best she could do here. She moved with Sigma and could see the blocked exit as well. If only she had her stone she could freeze them all over. Get caught too sure, but still.
"Methinks you dost presume too much," Nightingale teased. He was not wrong per se but he was not right either. She could climb it once upon a time but she was centuries younger last she did. Best to follow his current scheming than fail just to try and relive old glories and showing off. "This idea had better work!" She muttered as she followed along.
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Sigma
Thief
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Post by Sigma on Jun 17, 2017 22:19:22 GMT -6
As he heard the bandit killing that poor villager, Sigma's face scrunched up with anger that there was too many to try and help those people. He knew he had brought this upon the village and he was mad at himself that he was too weak to fix it. Running towards the house, he knew that all he could do right now was simply survive. Survive so that one day he becomes strong enough to protect those around him.
As he tried to open the door, he noticed it was locked. Damn, not the time to start kicking in a door and dragging in unnecessary attention to ourselves. Taking out his lockpicks, he started getting to work on the door. "Watch my back" he told to Nightingale as he was working as fast as he could. About fifteen seconds later, the door opened wide to show a regular house. Nobody seemed to be on the first floor and everything was silent. Family's probably in the town square with the rest of them... Gesturing to Nightingale to follow up the stairs, he was suddenly caught off guard at the top at a kitchen knife came flying by right in front of his face. Turning to the right, he saw a family. A father standing in front of his wife and two children holding what seemed to be some sort of large hunting dagger. H-hey hold on there! We're not with them! We just wanna escape like you guys! The husband didn't seem to care as he was getting angrier. "Oh I know all about you... I saw you go up that road, the girl too! It's all your fault they're currently trying to punish us! IT'S ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT!
Seeing the man rush at him with his dagger, Sigma decided to attack premptively to end things quickly. As the man arrived, Sigma stopped him cold in his tracks as he quickstepped into a side kick to the face. Falling on the ground, the man blurted: "Look at what you've done... Now you're running with your tail tucked in between your legs. You coward!" Sigma didn't how to respond... The man was right. He was being a coward right now since it was the only way for him to live. "S-shut up!" he followed by stomping on the man's hand to stop him from trying to stab them. Seeing the window open, he ran towards while shouting at Nightingale. "Either getting busy running, or get busy dying. Come on follow me! HE tried to ignore the family in the corner of the room too scared to act as he was standing up on the windowframe and pulling himself up unto the roof. Getting on his belly, he reached out his hand to help his partner climb. After that, the wall would easily be in jumping distance.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 22:31:18 GMT -6
"Yup, no problem, your back is watched." Nightingale pressed against the thief with her head on a swivel. "You do this a lot huh? Surprisingly cool under pressure." She had barely finished with her thought when the door clicked open. "Oap!" Well that WAS quick. She wasted no time in following.
As the two encountered a family that had been waiting in hiding she had little opportunity to react. Sigma however was nearly impaled through the head by a thrown knife. "Oh!" Was all the reaction she had before the screaming match started. Huh, Sigma had some good moves it would seem, he managed to evade and kick the man right to the ground. Nightingale nodded her head approvingly.
As the man hit the floor the family coward closer together and their corner. The father's words seemed to shake Sigma to some extent as his retort was weak. Sigma was content to just run and go from here but Nightingale felt angry, or perhaps irritable would be more apt. She picked up the dagger keeping it out of reach as she slowly moved to join Sigma.
"You blame us for your troubles, but you were the cowards too afraid to stop this 'Sharktooth'" She said his name in a mocking tone, "before he could rise to prominence. You are satisfied with living in fear and being pushed around because you are simply too cowardly to take action. To take a risk, and so you trade your freedom for a false security that hinges on the whims of a criminal. Don't blame us, blame your own ineptitude you weak and pitiful man." As she reached out to Sigma she looked back and offered one final smile.
The two managed to climb onto the roof, the other side was indeed within reach. "Let's get out of here. They closed the gates so if they tried to pursue they'd lose a lot of time." No sooner were her words out did the bandits at the gate take notice.
"Look! Up there on the roof!"
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Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Jun 18, 2017 23:55:12 GMT -6
"Thanks for having my back there." he said quickly as the both of them reached the top of the house. Sadly, their plan to leave unnoticed had failed when one of Sharktooth's minions saw them on the top of the house. Sighing, Sigma realised that this wouldn't be an easy escape. Nope, he always he had to work harder to not die it seemed. Godammit.
Seeing some of the mounted archers get their bows ready to take them down, Sigma knew that they only had a few seconds before being peppered with arrows. "Over the wall!" he shouted as he started sliding down the roof to then jump onto the palissade. Quickly, climbing it to hang over the opposite side, he let himself drop into a roll to reduce the impact. He could hear the bandits getting louder by the second as Nightingale dropped down right after him. "We've gotta hide, come on, let's go into those woods until things calm down. There might a cave or something we can hide in." At least this was something he was used to do. Running away was a pretty important skill to have when you work in the moraly questionable side of society. Although he would've loved some smoke bombs right now, actually finding them was another story... Anyways, he started running through the woods, making sure Nightingale was keeping up with him. He didn't know how good of an endurance runner she was after all.
After a couple minutes of running, Sigma stopped and gestured to Nightingale to get low. He quickly went towards the closest tree to climb it. At the top, he could see the village in the distance... It seemed like they were burning something in the town square... Eh, it was too late to care about that anymore. The good news was that he didn't see any banits in their vicinity. The thicket must've been too hard to travel through on horseback. Jumping back down with a much more relaxed tone, he said: "Well, we're in the clear I think... How are you doing?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2017 17:37:03 GMT -6
Having his back in there? No way, she just wanted to tell the guy off and let him know he was an idiot, but if she won brownie points with the guy who may or may not be able to find her stone well, that would just be an additional bonus. "Over the wall!" She shouted back at him. "Yeah okay! Cuz that is such a reasonable action!" It was not the tallest of walls but it was not a short one either.
"Hahhhh!!!!" Nightingale shouted as she took the plunge. Arrows from the bandit archers fired nearby narrowly missing the two of them. Sigma rolled and seemed perfectly fine, a testament to just how much he did this stuff. Nightingale on the other hand had avoided tall falls for a time and was not prepared. She bent her knees as she hit the ground sparing her of a harsher impact but she was still jarred by it. "Guh!"
For the bandits to chase them through the woods they would have to open the gates and then brave the obstructions of the wooded place. Nightingale doubted the two of them would be followed. Still, she had been wrong before and haste was a pace best kept. "Yeah, let's go." She breathed between her teeth as her body rejected the first few steps but she forced them through the pain. The pain left her a bit slower than Sigma, but she was still more than capable of keeping a rhythm to her running.
Two miles, the two of them ran two whole miles and he was still not convinced they were safe. Nightingale breathed deeply trying not to look winded as the boy continued his determined scan of the area. Nightingale simply opted for the leisurely stroll up to the trunk of the tree and rested against it. "Well, I may have a swollen ankle later but I am going to survive just fine." She shook her head. "Man, this really sets me back a bit, that road was the fastest route to my destination, ya know?"
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Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Jun 26, 2017 0:38:38 GMT -6
"Heh, better a swollen ankle than an axe in your skull I'd say..."
Climbing down the tree, he sat down in the grass with his legs crossed next to Nightingale. Panting a bit after that pretty intense run, he finally felt the adrenaline wear off as the silence of the forest filled the air. The cool wind helped evaporate the beads of sweat that had formed around Sigma's neck. He then heard heard Nightingale talk about how her opportunity to reach Bern was ruined. Feeling the same, he agreed with her that things were not great:
"Ugh, tell me about it. Not only that but to go back over there even if we take the safe route, it's still going to be dangerous with those bandits around! Bern'll have to wait for a bit I think sadly... scratching the back of his head, he felt a bit at a loss about what to do next. This whole thing had thrown a wrench in his plans. Should he try to sneak past them? Should he follow Nightingale to find that stone right now? He still wasn't sure to be honest. At the very least right now they could be glad about the fact that nobody had followed them in the woods.
"However I'm curious. What are you doing going to Bern? If this stone holds so dear to you, wouldn't you be headed to Illia right now to find your sister? What other goals right now do you have that are more important than this? To me, at least, you sounded like you really wanted to get that thing. What's so important in Bern to you?"
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 11:21:03 GMT -6
What's so important in Bern? Nightingale gave him a look that spoke more than words would. "I doubt you know of it but there used to be a city here by the name of Darrun. It was known to be a beautiful and shining jewel in its heyday. A pinnacle of human ingenuity and beauty." She smiled as she spoke of it, she had many good memories there. But she remembered the words of the locals and how it was nothing but ruins up in the mountains now, disgusting, and her face reflected her somber thoughts on the matter.
"But now the city is nothing but ruins you see. A bandit lord, who at the time was say the modern Hargus equivalent," a gross overstatement, Hargus never had an equivalent in living memory but it made her point, "came in wanting to take it and subjugate it. They refused him and in a massive battle against the bandit king the city was reduced to nothing. My desire here is to see this city of ruins and well," A shameless smile, "I want to see what valuable remains I can scrounge up in there." She laughed at this.
Another sudden cut to a serious look, "I fled from Ilia because of the invasion, learning that my sister is alive and with the stone back there is good and yet terrible news. I only learned of this truth recently after all." Not even lies, before recently she had no idea who had her stone, and learning further they were in Ilia did little to raise her spirits.
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Sigma
Thief
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Post by Sigma on Jun 29, 2017 11:21:46 GMT -6
A now destroyed town by the name of Darrun... SIigma hadn't heard of it before but the mention of it previously being a place where the best engineering resided did some interesting... The thief was a pretty big histor junkie after all, an ancient city with forgotten technology was always the best kind of story to him at least. The mention of a bandit rivaling Hargus did seem exagerated but still interesting. If she made the comparison it probably meant that this bandit king was a pretty big deal... Also the way she seemed to happily mention treasures to pillage made Sigma laugh somewhat, it had been a pretty long hwile since he had been treasure hunting. Maybe he should get back into it now that he wasn't working in Edessa anymore...
However she took a much more serious tone when she mentionned the stone and her sister. Wanting not to dampen the mood too much, Sigma got up and looked back towards where they had ran from. "Well I guess for now we should try to make it to the next town over, we can decide when we'll go after that sister of yours after I'll have had some ale."
Starting what would probably a few hours long walk, Sigma was glad to have found a competent partner. Fighting those bandits alone would've probably been very bad... Despite her somewhat suspiscious words, he still that he could trust her in terms of not stabbing him in the back at least. Let's just say that he did at least plan to try and uncover what was really the truth behind this whole "dragon stone" business...
(Thread over)
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