Home Again....

[Cebrail]

Cebrail found himself running back and forth between the two homes he knew: Ostia and Caelin. In Caelin, he did nothing. He had yearned for more. He thought he finally found what he was looking for when he returned to his birthplace. He had arrived just before the Inquisitional Army and after a few short months, he watched the city burn.

Now, here he was. Fleeing back home to his mother and father. Fleeing as a failed soldier. By the time he had reached the village, it was already well past dusk. He walked down the winding pathways and came upon his home. The fire lights shined through the window and shadows moved about. Mother, father, sister....and someone else? Cebrail quickly pulled out his Slim Lance and shield and approached the door. He could hear a man angrily shouting when he felt a dagger to his back.

"Open the door boy." Cebrail dropped his equipment and pushed open the door. His parents sat there astonished at his sudden arrival. His family, though distressed, looked relieved.

"My boy! We heard about what happened in Ostia!" The old man jumped off the chair and hugged his son. "Your mother and I were worried sick! Hug your father boy!" Cebrail looked behind him and the old man finally noticed the dagger.

"Father. What's going on?" He asked. The man that was yelling earlier turned and looked at him. He recognized him from somewhere.

"Ah. The son returns. I haven't seen you since you were a little boy." The man snickered. I know him. He's..."Yes boy. I am who you think I am. I finally found where your dirty gambling of a father was hiding. I've come to collect the debt that he owes me. Unfortunately, he was telling me that he doesn't have any money. I was going to take it out of your dear sister here." The man began to pet her cheek ever so gently.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Enraged, Cebrail tried to grab the man when the guard behind him restrained him and held the knife to his neck.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Children these days. They have no respect for their elders. I've had a change of heart. I'll tell you what old man, your son will work for me until your debt is paid off. Boy. If you fail to repay me, I'll take it out on your lovely sister." She cringed as he winked at her. Cebrail quit struggling and looked down to the ground. He nodded in shame.

"When this is done. I'll be back father." The man shoved him out the door. He grabbed his lance and was prepared to impale the debt collector when he heard a voice up the road.

"How did it go boss?" A large burly man approached with an axe resting on his shoulder.

"We have a new recruit. Now then, we return to Ostia. We'll scavenge what we can."

[Cebrail]

They had disarmed him. Chained him. Threatened his family. But there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't have been able to impale the debt collector. He wouldn't have been able to fight the brutish axe man. He couldn't do anything. Cebrail was being dragged along to repay his father's debt. He loved his family and he would do anything to keep them out of harm's way. Even if it meant stooping as low as this scum.

The blood dripped off his lance. Before him lay the body of a young man, no older then him. After nearly a decade of training with a lance, the first blood he spills was that of an innocent. Cebrail could feel the anger burning inside him. He didn't wish for this to happen. He looked up at the debt collector, he didn't even know his name. The rain continued to pour and it slowly washed the blood off.

The dead man had owed money. The man had been unlucky. The group was heading to Ostia when they found him in a tavern. He ran into the forest and Cebrail was forced to stop him. The large man laughed.

"He fell kinda funny." He checked the deceased's pockets and found nothing. "Well then. I suppose he wasn't lying when he said he didn't have anything." The large man bellowed laughing again. He began to walk back to the tavern, the rain continued to pour. "If you don't come along....remember what's at stake." He kept walking. Cebrail soon followed.

The tavern was a small one in a similarly small village. They hadn't traveled too far from Caelin when it began to rain. They entered the tavern and found the man. Now they were entering it again. This time, there were no familiar faces. Only anxious ones. The debt collector was sitting in the corner with a few of his men. His face was slender and pale. His eyes were accented heavily by the dark bags under them. He looked like he hadn't slept or ate in days.

"Well? What happened to him?" He drank from his mug. The brutish man looked at Cebrail and pushed him forward.

"He's broke. Dead and broke." The debt collector let out a high pitched shriek like laughter.

"Dead? You killed him eh? Haha! I like you boy. Have a drink." He looked at the bartender and nodded. "It's gonna be a long trip. We might as well get to know each other."

[Cebrail]

OoC: Really? No one? Makes me sad....


IC:

"You see him. His name is Aias. Like your father, he is indebted to me. All of these men that we travel with, they all are. So cheer up boy. We've all done things we don't like." He drank from his cup and smiled. "I grow weary. Barkeep. Lead me to one of your rooms. Boy. Find a place to rest. Lodging is on me." He got up and followed the barkeeper out of the room and down a hallway. Cebrail looked at the drink and pushed it aside. He felt bitter and his thoughts still drifted the dead man not too far out into the forest.

"You get used to it. It gets a little easier everyday." Aias was sitting at the table next to him. The large man seemed to have calmed down. He downed another bottle of wine. "It's true what he said. All of us working for him. We owe him. We've all done things we wish we could take back." He looked at the barkeep who had just returned. He lifted the empty bottle and shook it.

"How much do you owe him?"

".....Alot." The bartender arrived with another bottle and Aias started drinking immediately.

"If so many of us are here unwillingly, why do you obey him so easily? You could all overpower him!" Cebrail wanted to leave the man behind. The longer he was with him, he felt, the worse he would become.

"Do what you want." He grumbled and walked towards the rooms, taking the wine. Cebrail watched him leave for a moment then got up and walked towards the group of 'prisoners'.

"Why do you follow that....man?" Cebrail asked the group. There were five or six of them. Each one was about his age and came from worse off conditions then him. Tattered clothes.....frail.

"We don't really want to. Our families owe him and we miss them badly. But...he provides for us. I'm still with him voluntarily." One of them spoke up. No...no no no. I don't want to be here any longer. I want to leave. But I can't do it alone. Having failed in his request, he walked back to the other table alone.

"I want to leave too."

[Cebrail]

"I'm Jandt. And I wanna leave that dreadful man as much as you do. The only problem is..." Jandt sat down across the table and leaned in closer to whisper. "He's holding our families hostage. If we leave, he'll send word and... I can't imagine what he'd have done to them." Jandt looked down in sadness. Like Cebrail, he didn't want to risk his family's life and went along with the debt collector.

"Do you know his name?" Cebrail began to whisper as well. If they were gonna escape, he didn't want the loyalists to hear.

"I don't think anyone does, except maybe Aias." He drank from his mug and began to tap his fingers, pondering how they would leave. "I've been thinking about this for awhile and now that you're here, maybe we should go through with it. I say we kill him."

"Are you insane? No. Absolutely no. There is a man lying dead in the dirt outside because of me. I refuse to kill another innocent person." He could still feel the man's blood on his skin. He could still hear him cry out as the lance impaled him. He could still see the dead man's eyes looking up at him.

"Do you really think he's an innocent man? He's threatening to kill our families if we don't do his dirty deeds. We'll be bringing justice down upon a man who knows none." Jandt glared at Cebrail. He knew he was right.

"Gah. Fine. There are a two problems. We're outnumbered heavily and when are we gonna do this?"

"Most of them don't even know how to use a sword let alone fight. They're used mostly to make deals with people and do the heavy lifting. I, on the other hand, can use a bow." He flipped his blond hair proudly.

"You mentioned a plan. Tell me."

"As we approach Ostia, I'll scout ahead. I'll request to take you with me, as protection. Once we've traveled a fair distance, we'll set a trap. You'll stand in the middle of the road over my dead body. You'll charge forward and distract Aias on the other guys while I take a shot at his head. Simple enough."

"That's a terrible idea."

OoC: I killed a guy...it wasn't a fight.... does my weapon durability go down?

[Cebrail]

"Do you have any better ideas?" Jandt scoffed. He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. He thought very hard to come up with that plan.

"Why not now? He's asleep, we could do it now." Cebrail pointed towards the hallway. After a moment, Jandt shook his head and declined.

"Aias is always guarding him."

"Did you see how much he drank? He should be knocked out about now. Let's go." He quickly got off the chair before Jandt could refuse. But they stopped before they entered the hallway. He turned and looked at Jandt. "What are we going to use?"

"Here. We'll use this." He pulled up his pant leg, revealing a dagger in his boot. The two nodded and entered the hallway. There were doors along the right side, to other rooms. The pair continued walking and found Aias sleeping, slouched in a chair. He was snoring loudly. He sat between the last two doors. He has to be in one of these rooms. He thought. He quietly tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. The door was locked. They looked to the other door and pushed it open.

"Hello boys. Do come in."

[Cebrail]

"You see, I knew you'd try something like this. Though, you do move rather quickly. It hasn't been a full day yet. Tsk tsk tsk." The collector shook his finger and head. He seemed... playful. Not someone who's life was being threatened. "I suppose, it would have to happen sooner then I like. Aias. Bring her in." In the hallway, they could hear a door unlocking.

He came in with a woman slung over his shoulder. She was bound by her feet and hands. Aias stood her on her feet and turned her to face them. Her mouth was covered and she couldn't speak. The moonlight shined through the window, revealing her brown hair. Aias slowly led her beside the debt collector.

"You bastard! Let go of my sister!" Cebrail charged forward in anger. The collector held a knife to her throat. He smirked as he brought it closer to her neck.

"I'd hate to end such a beauty here." Cebrail stopped in his tracks, realizing the predicament. "Good boy." Jandt was slowly putting down his own dagger, but in one quick motion he threw it at the man's arm. The dagger spun through the air and hit him in the shoulder. In agony, he dropped his knife. Cebrail seized his opportunity and ran forward again. He tackled Aias and they both landed hard on the ground.

"Burn in hell!" Cebrail had Aias pinned and started beating him. He punched and punched and punched. The large man took the beating and didn't put up any resistance. He merely smiled.

Jandt struggled with the collector. Both were trying to prevent the other from using the dagger. The collector pushed him off and he hit the wall, knocking him unconscious. He held his arm and grabbed the girl.

"Cebrail." Cebrail stopped punching and looked up at the man. He watched in horror as he stabbed the dagger into her stomach. She had stopped struggling and she collapsed to the floor. The blood was dripping off his dagger. Jandt laid against the wall, hopeless. Aias merely laid on the floor, motionless. The collector laughed maniacally. The rain continued to pour.

[Cebrail]

He felt something snap inside of him. He felt neither anger nor sadness but anguish. He watched as his sister fell to the ground silently. In her final moments... she hadn't struggled. This is what Cebrail had tried to prevent. He didn't want someone dying because of him. In his failed attempt to end it quickly he had caused what he had tried to prevent. He might as well have stabbed her himself. He grabbed the knife and brought it to the man's throat. Neither said a word.

"Do it." Cebrail just held the knife there and the collector began to laugh. He withdrew the knife and proceeded to get up. "Coward!" He yelled. Suddenly, Cebrail brought the knife down onto the man's chest. Again. Again. Again.

There was a small crowd at the door, the young men who had followed. He looked up at them, the blood splattered across his face, the knife still in his hand. "Find me a cleric!" He yelled, now kneeling over his sister. Her breathing was faint and she could still be saved. For a moment, time stood still. He couldn't hear the rain pounding against the outside walls. He couldn't hear the heavy breathing of the nearby crowd. It was just him and his sister.

Flashback....




End Flashback....

For the first time in a long time, he began to cry. No cleric or priest showed up. Her breathing stopped. "Take care of him. If not, you'll face the same fate as your former master." He pointed to the now dead debt collector. Sniffling, he lifted his sister's body and left the tavern. He carried her body and left the small village. The rain hadn't stopped. It would be dawn by the time he arrived home again...



OoC: Now that it's over... any comments or something? I like feedback to improve my RPing. Are the images effective? Which thread should I join next? XD