Prologue: Gathering Shadows [Holly/Audric]

[Audric Tania]

Each blow rattled his armor. He felt his body screaming with pain against the armor plating that encased it as he repeatedly struck with all his might. The shield's golden trim had slowly taken on a fine crimson stain as droplets of sanguine life nectar trickled down the hardened iron exterior. The meaty wet fleshy sounds of him crashing it repeatedly into the man who no longer struggled. Who no longer performed any semblance of resistance but lay idle. A savage, near feral grunt left Audric's lips as the lordling bludgeoned the man over and over and over. His mind still a frenzied churning maelstrom of anger and pain and fear and confusion. The girl's voice initially did not reach him. Not where he was. For he heard but did not acknowledge or recognize and continued to wildly assault the heavily submitted corpse. By the time he'd registered that it was the sable haired female who had saved him twice over, Audric slowly lifted his hand and refraimed from striking another time.

Slowly standing up from the corpse, he looked to her before casting a glance back down at the body before him. The face and jaw and even the upper torso(What could he say? He wasn't always accurate in a fit of rage) were heavily damaged with gashes carved into them and obvious blunt force trauma lining the ruined flesh. Heavy amounts of blood quickly welled up or spilt from open wounds. The same blood dripping from Audric's shield as he spoke in a somewhat subdued tone.

"He's already dead."

[Holly]

Holly sighed. She couldn't help it. She DID manage to resist the urge to facepalm, but only through sheer force of will and training alike. "You don't say." Her voice was carefully neutral, not exactly amused. Almost lightly sarcastic though not outright offensively so. She had that much control, at least. But inside she would have liked to punch him in the face for being such a meat brained dumbass. That had been their last real chance at questioning anyone to find out what the hell was going on here. Taking her hand off of Audric's shoulder, Holly pivoted to check on the - yeah the boss was DEFINITELY dead, bled out during the fight. f**k DAMMIT. In the wake of combat, back to her usual self, emotion flowed wild and free within her; a mix of joy and anger that made it imperative to err, actually watch herself and respond appropriately.

...Well. In the end, what she felt didn't change anything. They were all dead. She couldn't change that by being mad. So Holly kept her emotions carefully in check, more so than usual even, as she spoke. "You got some anger problems, bud. Knight or noble, being able to control yourself is what separates you from... them," she gestured to the corpses littering the ground. Not smiling anymore. Not recriminating either, her voice was carefully neutral. And it was VERY unlikely that he would take well to being lectured, so she didn't even bother trying. But it was important to note that. Holly had her share of experience in working with less... controlled allies, but those that she trusted and could manage.

Not a bad result to this fight overall, though. She was effectively unharmed - throat would be fine later - and Audric didn't look to be bleeding to death or anything, though he had certainly seen better days. Might as well focus on the bright side of life, right? "But hey, not many guys could survive that long on their own. Looks like you've got some bite to match the bark. We might have failed the sub-objective of questioning these tools, but at least the main objective - keeping the primary alive - was successful." A mixture of praise and more subtly touching again on the topic of man and beast. She wasn't going to lecture him about it. But it didn't mean she was going to drop it entirely.

[Audric Tania]

Audric was panting quite heavily. Heaving shoulders rising and falling with the faint grating tones of metallic armor pressing against individual pieces. At this point his face was flush and the wound from the bludgeoning earlier was beginning to swell with blood coming down more steadily. The rather distinguishable bump above his upper right eye throbbing angrily in protest at the slightest inclination of his eyebrow as he examined the girl who extracted her hand a second later. In that instant a wave of exhaustion hit him like a wall collapsing upon him. He'd barely slid Buidhe onto the holster strapped along his back before his limbs simply ran limp. Shield thankfully lashed to his armor and therefore unable to remove. As he was reprimanded for his healthy anger management skills, he tried to gaze around. Listening but still clearly looking for potential threats. Not that in his condition he'd be able to fend them off much.

The tanian youth was rasping and lapping for air with burning lungs and unable to audibly agree with her remarks on his lack of control, and simply nodded. He wanted nothing more than to fall over. To just collapse like a sack of potatoes and indulge in liberation from the strain his muscles felt from the simple act of standing. He was not that bested however. He would only lie upon the ground after a fight, when he was dead. The crimson haired youth found his breath, and a moment later his tongue as she then moved from criticism to compliments. Though her choice of vernacular and assessment were alien to him. "Well before I reply to your comments..."

Audric turned to face her. A civilized greeting. That much he could offer. He also had to assert his priorities. Audric bowed his heads forward and then crossed an arm over his lower abdomen before bowing appropriately with shoulders square. Despite his forearm screaming in protest, and suppressing a sigh of relief when he let his arm drop. "I thank you for saving my life. Were it not for your intervention I would have no doubt suffered a rather gruesome end at the hands of those brutes. Though I did not see you fell them directly, it was no modest feat yourself." He turned back to gaze at their corpses before speaking once more. "You are right. My temperament, especially when my life is threatened or anothers life is in peril is quite explosive and prone to escalating quickly. Though I thank you again for your praise. I like to believe I'm too stubborn to make such attempts easy. "

[Holly]

"Saving the day." Holly's lips quirked into a cheeky grin at the thought. The irony was... INCREDIBLE. Her, of all people, saving anyone directly. Indirectly sure. But the people she had usually dealt with were not the ones she was meant to save. To say the least. "S'what I do." She didn't mind lying. She did quite a bit of it in fact. One might even call her a pathological liar. But it... did feel a little strange to claim that nonetheless. The thief decided that she liked how it sounded nonetheless though, bullshit or not. Almost made her sound like a superhero. Superheroine. But not, like, the drug.

So. What to make of sir Audric, crown prince of Tania? Well, he certainly had the poise... at times... of a noble. Not so much most of the time, it seemed. But a fiery heart to match his, uh, fiery hair. What was it with redheads and being crazy, anyways? She could think of a few others that were just as insane. Eh, whatever. At least he wasn't JUST a meat minded musclebrain with no awareness of his actions and consequences. Just got carried away. They could work on that. If she wanted. Did she? Holly wasn't entirely sure on that. She needed to understand the situation better. She needed to understand why people were trying to assinate royalty... and who. Etruria? Another Lycian territory? Lucius's goons? Too many possibilities, too few answers.

"Well... Audric, was it? What brings you to this fair, uhh..." She paused, looking around the run down village they were standing in. Hmm. They should probably get out of here before local authorities showed up... which would probably be like two guards tops. She could fight her way out, sure, but starting trouble and killing innocents wasn't exactly her style, if she could help it. "Well, to Ryerde, anyways. Not much fair about this dump. Don't you have some friends you should be spending time with?"

[Audric Tania]

Audric's lips curved into a grin that spread upon his lips as he let out a sudden laugh before nodding brightly. As if his wounds were now entirely unaware to him and all fatigue had left him. For the moment he was able to return to a simpler moment and his simple self. Audric's left hand managed to bend at the elbow with armored fingers connecting and coiling around his waist guard as the lordling nodded towards Holly while she proclaimed her job to be saving the day of sorts. "Well I believe you do that quite well! Hahaha!"

His demeanor shifted as she began to inquire as to his reason for being in Ryerde. Well. He could've told her less than the truth sure. However he knew that was simply not in he, the honorable fool. So the truth was obviously the best and only route. Audric's gaze drifted towards the end of the alleyway as he tried to ignore the corpses littered around them and the warmth spreading over his face on the right side as the faint trail of blood continued to trickle downwards. It was dripping down his chin at this point and he felt it faintly clinging as it started to dry. "Well.
I was here with a fair company of stalwart souls if I'm honest. I however got separated from them. I personally was hoping to visit the academy and see my sister but at this point I believe it is unsafe to stay for so long. Isolated as I am. Especailly if I..perhaps she too, are in danger. At the school she's likely to be far safer but I would not wish to stay idle with her and give any future assailants incentive to act boldly and drag innocents into it. That is assuming this is not a singular instance, which, judging by their knowledge of my name..I do not believe it is."

Audric paused for a moment longer before tilting his head and looking to the female once more. "Pardon my rudeness milady but I never did ask your name. What name might I know my savior as?"

[Holly]

"What can I say. I am a woman of many talents!" Holly's existing grin only widened a bit as she continued sucking herself off. Though the real humor was what Audric didn't know - what those 'talents' actually were - and how irrelevant most of them were to saving people. Though it did feel nice to have something good come of it for once. Less good was his story, which corroborated her suspicions and theorycrafting so far. It... wasn't clear if Audric realized it yet, but no knightly guard would actively leave their ward unattended, especially this far from home and in this dangerous of a territory, which meant that they had been distracted or ambushed. It was certainly possible that Audric had sneaked away from them as well, but in the end that still came back to their shoulders - a bodyguard's entire job was to be there for the Primary no matter what stupid f**k**g crap the primary got up to, sneaking around or no, which meant in turn that they had either betrayed him or been distracted.

That or they were actually that incompetent.

Holly didn't care much for that explanation, either,but filed it away as an unfortunate possibility. "Yeah," she said absentmindedly to Audric's comment about a singular instance, still trying to figure out who would want him dead and why. She didn't come to any better conclusions than she had a moment ago. There were a few plausible possibilities, but none that she liked, and few that really made sense. It took a moment to realize that he had asked her a question as well, and that acted to draw her from her thoughts a bit. "Oh. Sorry. Name's Holly," she lied far more easily than the truth had ever come. "Didn't expect to run into you all the way out here, though." Holly sneaked another glance at the morass of corpses around them. "Sucks we didn't get a chance to question any of these jerks, though. Lycia may be in a bad place these days, but that's no reason to be going around putting hits on knights and nobility."

Hah. The hypocrisy! It was fine when it was done for the 'greater good' of a 'united Lycia,' but when someone ELSE did it, here comes the outrage!

[Audric Tania]

"A woman of many talents indeed hahaha!"

At this point his body was registering the healthy beating he'd just settled into. Gods above and below especially his chest! It felt like a iron clad golem had been ballroom dancing upon it with the deity touch of an avalanche. The crimson haired princeling lifted his shield a bit before securing it around his forearm. After a few brief glances around at the surroundings to ensure they were in no more immediate danger he managed to strap his spear back to his shoulder. His arms slumped down to his sides as he managed to lean back against the wall with his head gently nudging against as well. His eyes quietly drinking in the sight of this girl entirely now that he had a chance to settle and try to ignore the overwhelming discomfort he was in.

When she gave him her name he nodded curtly. Lifting his arm up to his chest despite the screaming agony and protest of his muscles, dipping his upper torso at his abdominal to bow politely. Speaking with relief despite the fatigue and pain that visibly strained his movements. Even if he didn't let them stop his movements. "It is a pleasure to meet you Holly." She was right, of course. Questioning them would've ended with far more answers than well...attempts to question a corpse. As it stood, they weren't going to have any real answers. That was in part his handiwork and in part the situation itself. He probably could've held back on one of the last ones. Then again. He probably would've have been able to even if he tried to hold back. "That's true. I..didn't really think about it at the time obviously. I..am a bit surprised. If they were willing to track me down here and what not..that can't be a good sign."

[Holly]

...It sounded wrong coming from him.

At any rate, the crimson prince seemed to be feeling the burn from his previous adventure. The less gracious part of Holly's mind supplied that his mind might finally be catching up to his body; the less bitchy side recognized that with the drop in adrenaline he was simply more clearly feeling the pain.She wasn't immune herself to be fair. The man throttling her had shaken the brazen thief a bit. Getting involved at all had been a foolhardy mission from the start, and she was lucky to have gotten away with only her pride injured, her ego and throat alike bruised, but it could have gone much worse. For both of them. That was not to say that either of them were out of the woods yet. It was possible that news of this... fracas was already on its way to the regional spymaster in chief, and she did NOT want to be anywhere in the vicinity when it did. And Audric... well. He was a dangerously alone young man in this particular moment, even if he didn't realize it yet. His guards were either far away - or more likely dead, her pessimistic side offered, and he was a LONG way from home.

The smart thing to do, of course, would be to simply walk away. The less she involved herself with this whole mess the better. That there had even been a genuine assassination attempt on Lycian royalty confirmed the dark rumors that she had gathered in recent years, proving beyond all reasonable doubt that the power players of Lycia were making larger and larger moves to jockey for their position in the new Lycia - a Lycia that might well not exist at all if they tore it apart in their struggles. Something she knew all too well. But she had left that life behind her. She really should just walk away. Let fate and luck take Audric where it might and wash her hands of this whole mess. It'd be so easy. Just 'welp, have a nice day!' and peace the hell out.

"...We should get you back to your retinue," Holly said instead, quite certain that she had heard herself wrong and she hadn't actually said anything so outrageously stupid in her life. Probably just a - you know, a slip of the tongue. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that against all odds, she found herself... not respecting, exactly, that would take a LOT more, but... liking this fiery young lord, and in a truly unfortunate turn of events, apparently spontaneously being struck by a lethal case of developing a conscience. Leaving him here, alone, would be leaving him here to die. She knew it, even if he didn't, and she couldn't NOT know it. If someone had been bold or brash enough to try here, they were in too deep to not finish the job. A random bandit attack could be easily explained out here in bumfuck nowhere, but not so much back in Tania where rule of law held firm.

On the bright side, all the bad guys being dead meant that Audric hadn't had to watch her torture the survivors for information or that she hadn't had to come up with a bunch of bullshit excuses to separate them so she could do it in private. So as far as Audric knew, she was just some random chick who liked apples. Small blessings, eh? As minor as it was, Holly did find herself feeling a little more comfortable thinking of that, almost clinging to the idea. If she just got him back to his guards, she could leave without anyone being the wiser. She'd just be a helpful adventurer who had happened upon Audric in his time of need and left for her own devices when no longer needed. An open and shut case, nice clean story.

Yeah, that wasn't too bad.

[Audric Tania]

Audric was quiet for a change. His head lightly thumping once more against the foundation of the wall he'd leaned back upon while he let his weight sink into the far more sturdy masonry and wood plank work. The lordling's eyes shut for a moment as he silently let his body's existence slip from his notice as the consuming warmth and aching throb of what would likely be atrocious bruises upon his skin envelop his entire being. He was fairly certain that the longer he sit still though the harder it was going to be to move to break that vigil poise. The Tanian's spear butt pressed to the back of the building again before he surged away and leaned forwards quietly. Crimson hair clinging to sweat laden brow as he snapped his eyes open. The high of adrenaline had faded and his gaze strove to fight off the leaden weight his eyelids took on while fatigue exacted its toll. After a pause, he quietly reaffirmed his footing and turned to directly face her. Shoulders squad, rigid stance and proper posture with back straight(though a rippling series of pops traversed his spine at this gesture) with will overwhelming the aching protests of his figure.

He dared not linger longer than needed, and agreed to the gesture that she'd mentioned about finding his escort. To that end, the Tanian was quite positive that the best place to return was their camp site. He knew where it was, and despite the biting regrets at his decision to leave he knew that it would be best to take that as a lesson learned. Audric nodded his head before pointing to the west, and away from the small village. Armored plates clinking slightly before the slight awareness of that drew his notice. Between a bedding of hills out of the town's view we were camped. Should be easy enough to find, the tent's stand out to the brown and greens. Maybe an hour's stroll at best. If that. Though I..might be a tad slower than the trip here." He bent for a moment, clutching the now slightly dirty cloak that had been worn to enshroud his armor from view. Tugging it over after he'd finished, his tone a bit gruff.

At this point his best hope was to stick to their company and explain what happened. Then there was the matter of finding a way to reward this woman, who had saved his life and thrown her own into the jaws of death on such a short moment to act. He could not overlook that. That, of-course would be one step at a time. One step at a time.

[Holly]

Ahhhhh. Hear that? Listen closely. Yep, that was the sound of silence. She loved it! Things were better when they were quit. Less people yelling to 'find that damn thieving fool' or crying about spilt milk, or killing each other, or really any number of unpleasant things that made noise. And no noise also meant no one was looking for spies, saboteurs, assassins, rogues, or any number of unsavory jobs, none of which were at all related to her - obviously - but she did her fair share of sneaking around and all so it was perfectly normal to not like people looking for her.

...Probably a good thing no one could read her mind, or that whole little mental monologue mighta sounded a tad suspicious.

It did say something about Audric that he was still ready to move after a beating like that, though. She didn't know WHAT it said, admittedly. Might be he was too dumb to know when to stop, or had a great deal of courage and/or stubbornness - basically the same thing in her experience - or maybe he was secretly a masochist and got off on people beating him like the redheaded stepchild of a rented pack mule. Heh. Redheaded. She had heard that joke a million times before but he ACTUALLY had red hair. Which made it funny! Or not. Betraying little of her incoherent train fo thought, Holly cracked her neck as she made a quick rotation of her various joints, as much out of habit as to make sure they were all still there.

The crimson and azure lordling seemed to have come to a decision of his own in the meantime; she had kept an eye on him as he been moving around aimlessly but mostly tuned him out until he started talking. An hour away. Someone really, REALLY needed to have a talk with this young stud about how the Primary could actually be wrong and an asshole when you intentionally make it really bloody hard for the people paid to protect you to actually, yanno, protect you.

Outwardly she said nothing of the sort of course. That would be uncouth. And unlikely to have any positive effect. Holly wasn't really the type to... tell people what to do, anyways. Influence them perhaps. Not so much with the orders. And for now, despite her lack of enthusiasm for his wayward ways, they had a prodigal son to return to the fold. "...Yeah, no problem. Long as we move fast and keep quiet we should be able to get there without too much trouble. Lead the way, boss-man."

[Audric Tania]

If he wasn't wearing his armor, he probably would've been a bit more eager to trek back. Though he wore it so often that it usually was like part of his own body, it felt more so now as when he first put it on. That was fairly common though when he was fatigued, and if anything right now...he was fatigued. So with spear holstered, shield recovered, and once more refastening his traveling cloak and ensuring it entirely covered him, he turned to nod towards the sable haired female who had proven herself trusthworthy in at-least the immediate. The crimson haired lordling was sore enough that he knew he'd be winded before even the first half of the slope in the distance had been crested, but that being said, he knew that the best way to calm down from the peaks of physical exertions was more work at smaller intervals. So he could descend instead of halting abruptly in the strain. It'd also keep his muscles fairly relaxed.

"I suspect I might be too tired to make much of a fuss. So quiet shouldn't be hard. So, right then."

He would've probed her with a few more questions, but his concern for the retinue was most pressing among his chief concerning. Audric's mind burned with doubts, enough to distract him from the burning in his legs when he pressed onwards with his new companion in tow. That screaming mental protest of his calves and thighs would simply have to quiet down eventually, because they had a bit of walking to do after all.

(End Topic)