A Case of Black and White

[CastlesInTheSky]

Windsor stood as tense as one could possibly be as the cold metal of the woman's blade lay next to his throat in the instant it took him to blink. Windsor, fittingly, did not reply to her statement.

He continued to stare at her wordlessly, his gaze cold as he let out a sharp breath. Regardless of the fact that she was saving Azaldi's life, she had a knife at his throat, which in his eyes was obviously casting her in a bad light. He would most definitely follow her order, of course, due to the circumstances. Of course he would be thanking her at the end but right now that wasn't on his mind.

Azaldi was silent as usual, and at this point was quite content with being so.

[GoblinFae]

A thick suffocating silence descended on the group. The more time that passed the more irritable Tiraris got. Unfairly, she would glare at Windsor for every little sound he made, the rustling of the leaves, the breaking of twigs, simply breathing. It was all driving her insane. She was not used to this kind of worrying and stressing.

All her life she had worked alone. To suddenly have to care for others was trying. To have her heart also emotionally tied to them was killing her. Once in a while she had gotten a job that meant protecting someone. If she failed the job it had been disappointing but nothing more. To fail this, to get them killed, would be the death of her. She could not bear the idea of seeing the healers who had saved her and risked their lives for hers, killed for their good deeds.

She could not say for sure why she was so desperate to protect them. Perhaps the product of their help was so recent. In the past she would have paid the debt and then been on her way. Her lingering and continued protection was a new concept for her. 'Why? Surely honor is not that important. His helping me or not, the debt was repaid. I should have killed him already. He is too much of a hazard. He already showed th- that he would risk everything to protect a dying murderer. Give him credit, he saved your life. Debt or not debt, he did that of his own freewill expecting nothing in return. Then he was a fool!'

The sound of crashing foliage behind her only served to enrage her further. 'Damn it Dyre! Must you be so loud? Are you trying to get us killed on purpose?' Face set in a mask of fury she whipped around to yell at Windsor but, was surprised when the sounds were actually come from left of him rather than from him. Concerned now, her hand went to her blade. 'Now what?' she thought just as the sounds closed in on them.

[CastlesInTheSky]

The tension in the air was almost tangible. If Azaldi had borrowed Tiraris's sword, he bet he could have cut through it himself. As uncomfortable as it was, it was better than conflict between the two or constant arguing. He admired the fact that the woman was doing this for them, as honour was hard to come by in any place at the time, especially among those who didn't agree with the law.

Set deep in thought as he walked along, Windsor was very startled to have the woman whip around and almost, at least as it seemed, to be ready to maim him. He wondered, baffled, what he had done to anger her so.

It was then that the noises became clear.

Azaldi nearly leaped out of the way as a group on horses loudly crashed through the foliage and came to an abrupt halt in front of them. Windsor also jerked back, startled. The commotion quieted somewhat in a few moments.There had been chattering amongst them that stopped as the apparent leader of the group held up his hand, eying the group of three that they had stumbled upon. By the looks of them, one could assume they were bandits or thieves of some sort. They didn't appear to have class in any sense of the term, and by their dress and current state of uncleanliness seemed to want to flaunt that fact.

The leader, a man of perhaps thirty with a set of battered toughened-leather armor and a large horse spotted with mud spoke in a gravelly voice.

"Well, what's we have 'ere? I says we found profit!" The other members of the group laughed as he grinned at the small group with crooked and yellowed teeth. "You guys tradesmen? Got coins, gold? We want somethin' from ya, think like a toll bridge, yeah? Give it here!"

[GoblinFae]

The trio were quickly surrounded. Tiraris gripped her sword hilt firmly, restraining herself from killing the thieves instantly. "Move along boys, you are barking up the wrong tree," she warned. "We are as much tradesmen as you are. Your kind of business is not welcome here. Kindly move on before I separate your head from your shoulders."

Tiraris kept still, shoulders set, ready to spring. 'Gods above, do not let Dyre do something stupid. I refuse to help him if he does.' Yet, despite her thoughts, her heart spoke otherwise. 'You will fight until your last breath for him if you have to. You will tell them limb from limb with your bare hands if they so much as breathe on him. Do not deceive yourself!'

[CastlesInTheSky]

The leader apparently didn't take the hint that he should be on his way and simply crossed his arms for a moment, pretending to ponder what he should do next. "Huh...well, whatever you say, woman. I say you're a liar, you must 'ave somethin'." The stupidity of his decision was likely to be revealed soon, not that he had a clue.

A few feet away, with a grin that was none too appealing, a bandit behind Windsor grabbed him by the shoulder roughly, about to say something, but was cut off abruptly as Windsor whipped around and slammed a fist to the side of the bandit's face. Azaldi seemed quite surprised, as did the bandit, as did Windsor. Windsor backed up, having been let go of, and blanched as pain radiated through his hand. Quickly he used his powers to numb it, needing to fix it later.

[GoblinFae]

Magic crackled along her skin in warning of just how close she was to losing it. The moment that one of them attacked Windsor, Tiraris was in motion. Her sword sang as she released it from its home at her side. Lean muscles began their choreographed dance, carrying the female assassin through a series of complicated thrusts and parries that began to cut down the enemy.

The buzzing in her ears grew louder as she approached the leader. Her heart thudded steadily in her chest like the drum of battle march. She let off a cruel laugh, slowly raising her head. "I warned you to leave. I told you we did not want your business. Now you must pay for my services, with your life." Moving quickly she swung the sword in his direction, spooking the horse.

[CastlesInTheSky]

All hell broke loose as Tiraris began to fight. Caught unawares, there wasn't much that one of the bandits could do before his arm was cut clean open. All of the bandits were moving around, yelling, fighting, getting attacked, being cut down. There was nothing but chaos. A few of them managed to run away, galloping off on their frightened horses. Azaldi stayed away from the conflict as did Windsor, both of them keeping their distance behind a cluster of foliage. Windsor set about healing his hand with Azaldi's assistance. Both of them supposed there was nothing they could do to help, neither were warriors and the best they could do was to stay out of the way and ensure their own safety.

When the assassin reached the leader, he snarled and managed to avoid the blow, taking out a sword of his own. Just as they were about to fight, yet more people came onto the scene.

This time, there was a group of guards who had been chasing the bandits. Only one had a horse, and the others seemed exhausted, which explained how long it took for them to arrive. The leader of the soldiers shouted, "Who are all of you? What's happened here? Don't you attack that bandit, woman, I've chased him far and wide to do that myself."

[GoblinFae]

The arrival of the second band of men distracted Tiraris long enough to allow the bandit leader to slash at her throat. Barely dodging it, she came away with a shallow cut at the neck and shoulder juncture. She grunted, glaring at the captain of the guard.

"You want him? You can have him?" she spat. "I do not have time for his kind of filth." Backing away, she switched sword hands and placed her hand over her bleeding wound. 'Or for yours. Where in seven bells are those two? I did not sign on for this!'

She turned away from the two feuding groups, no longer interested in their squabbling. 'Windsor why do I feel like you had something to do with all this?' Tiraris pulled her hood lower over her face, inconspiculously searching for the missing pair of healers. 'You two better not get yourselves caught!'

[CastlesInTheSky]

Both the guards and the bandit could care less what Tiraris was doing, as they were much too busy quarreling amongst themselves. From what one could gather from their conversation prior to fighting, the bandit seemed to have killed one of the guards a while back and there was some revenge going on.

Azaldi and Windsor noticed the guards' appearance, staying where they were to avoid becoming noticed. As Tiraris began to search for them, Azaldi eventually took notice, and as she walked by, he rustled the bushes a tad to catch her attention. The guards and the bandit were quite a bit too busy fighting, shouting, and running about to notice.

[GoblinFae]

Tiraris rolled her eyes at the men's antics. 'Could they be any more stupid. I bet if I danced around naked screaming at the top of my lungs they still would not notice what is right in front of them. Well, they might notice the naked part.'

A faint rustling in the bushes to her left, had her perking her head up as she honed in on the sound. 'Ah, so there you two are. A lot of help you are!' Nodding her head slightly, she signaled that she understood. 'Guess this means I can just waltz on out of here. Lucky day,' her mind sarcastically bit out.

Still putting pressure on her wound, Tiraris motioned to Azaldi to move ahead. Not waiting to see if he understand, she made her way past the healers' hiding spot and deeper into the small forest. 'Follow. Do not get caught. Come on! Do not make me go back. Gods above this smarts!'

Waiting a small distance away from the other groups of men, she impatiently tapped her foot. Despite appearances, Tiraris was keeping a wary eye on both the soldiers and her companions' hiding place. At any sign of trouble she was prepared to step in. But, for now she would stay out of the line of sight and wait.

[CastlesInTheSky]

Azaldi was glad that she had seen his signal and that there was no need to do anything else. He couldn't help but admire how honourable she was, helping him even when Windsor had made his unwanted appearance and with all this bandit business. Perhaps she just was the sort of person who couldn't live without finishing what she had started; whatever the case, they were there and the situation was still dangerous. He thanked the gods for the quarrel between the guards and bandit that distracted them.

Windsor was pulled along by Azaldi as he recognized her signal, and he gave the younger healer a motion to be quiet. He barely needed the reminder, still a bit shocked from the scolding he had gotten earlier for only asking the woman's name. How disagreeable.

They quickly caught up to where Tiraris was standing, and the two waited for further instruction, making sure to stay quiet and hidden.

[GoblinFae]

Pressing a finger to her lips, she deftly led them out of sight and sound of the arguing parties. Deeming them far enough away, she whipped around and grabbed Windsor by the neck and shoved him up against a tree. "You idiot! You are too loud. The bandits found us because of all the flailing and thrashing about you do, and the guards found us because of them. This is exactly the reason I did not want you to come along and even more the reason why I cannot trust you to go back! I cannot fathom why I ever came back to check on you Dyre!"

Tiraris' red eyes widened as she realized what she let slip. 'Do not catch that Windsor, do not catch that!' Her panicking caused the blood of her neck wound to bleed freely again as her heart raced. She looked down, watching the sticky red liquid stain the collar of her shirt. Forgetting about her previous frustration, she released the healer and moved her hand back to her neck.

[CastlesInTheSky]

Windsor was so startled by the sudden movement that he jumped quite a bit before he was shoved against the tree, barely holding back from making a small yelp. His eyes were wide as the woman hissed at him all the things he had done wrong. His enchanted glasses were crooked and slipped a bit on his face, revealing his true eye colours as she finished up with her harsh scolding.

The doctor simply stared at her as she used the strange word choice that he had definitely heard before from someone. Someone who he had helped in the past a bit ago. Someone who could most definitely be her. Hadn't he seen a lock of red hair back in the house? That unmistakable colour, plus now this? It must be. Who else would she be, willing to help them like this? The last thing that woman had done before she left was scream at him. Of course she wouldn't come back...would she?

Windsor stared at the woman, adjusting his glasses back into place before saying, "I apologize. I will keep what you've said in mind and try to be as quiet as possible from now on." He said this softly, but didn't betray any of his speculations as to her identity in his tone. Shifting, he pulled out a bandage out of his pack he carried with him and held it towards her.

[GoblinFae]

Tiraris snatched the bandages from him, but then hesitated as she realized a potential problem. 'How am I going to wrap this without taking my hood off? I cannot let him see who I am. If he does, it could ruin everything. It is better if he thinks that I left and abandoned them, no attachment, no ties, no emotions.'

She grumbled as she struggled to do the wrappings through the hood and around her hair. Casting pleading looks towards Azaldi, Tiraris wished that Windsor was not standing so close to her and the elder healer so far. 'If I only I had not stayed up all night. I could be more awake and capable of healing this instead of struggling with bandages like a fool.'

[CastlesInTheSky]

Azaldi was oblivious to her looks, as he was looking off into the forest warily. It had been engrained into his mind that he must be cautious. Always watching for something. When he had become a healer so long ago in that small town, he had thought he had left hiding and running behind in the past. Now he could almost feel the hounds biting at his ankles.

Windsor, meanwhile, watched her struggle with the bandages and thought to himself about his earlier speculations. Was it true? Was she truly the woman he had saved before? Regardless, she was struggling with the bandages and needed the hood to come off anyway, so he decided that was the ideal thing to do. He hoped that she wouldn't lash at him for doing so; after all, her nerves already seemed very frayed.

With a quick motion of his hand he grabbed the hood and pulled it downward, revealing her face. He studied her, keeping emotion off of his features. "As I had thought.", he said, very quietly. Azaldi turned around and glanced around himself, not entirely sure what to do.

[GoblinFae]

She inhaled sharply, giving Windsor a fleeting look of betrayal before a mask of cold indifference was slammed up into place. 'Why Windsor? Why could you not let it go, let it be? You were safer not knowing. I cannot protect you now, nor can I trust you with my safety. You are now a liability. I can no longer trust your ignorance should you get caught. You know too much. Foolish Dyre! I warned you to let me go, that saving me and protecting me could be your death. Whether you meant to or not, you have just signed your own death sentence. Are you prepared for it?'

Cold, unfeeling eyes glared at the foolish healer. Tiraris' only response was to harshly utter six telling words. "You should not have done that." Turning on heel, the injured woman placed herself in front of her fugitive travel companion and with her back facing Windsor. Silently pleading, or perhaps commanding, she handed over the bandages and moved her hair away from the slash wound.

The indifferent mask she hid behind, dropped in that moment, leaving Tiraris emotionally vulnerable. Her features softened as her eyes filled with unshed tears. Windor's perceived betrayal cut her deeply. This merciless assassin had found kindness and hope in others through him, or so she had thought. To have her past experiences proven right again, crushed her and only served to harden her heart once more. Yet, even as Tiraris clenched her eyes and fists, calling upon her anger, she was unable to stop the course of one lone tear that escaped her crimson eye.

[CastlesInTheSky]

Windsor was tired of everything. He was tired of running, tired of chasing, tired of protecting. He was tired of fighting, of betrayal, of lies. After she had turned her back on him and faced Azaldi, it began to show on his face. For a moment, he looked much older, weary and run down. It occurred to him then that he would have rather not gotten involved in any of this mess in the first place, and for a moment an irritated thought flew past that he regretted as soon as it appeared; 'I wish I would have left her there, she was never any of my business anyway.' As he walked off into the forest to a spot nearby, he hoped he hadn't meant it.

He hadn't seen the action as a betrayal; put simply, he had been sick and tired of not knowing who he was traveling with, especially when he had had to put blind trust in someone he didn't think he knew. Now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to trust her, either. In the back of his mind all he wanted to do was go home and forget that anything had happened.

He remembered the time when they had just sat and talked when she was in his house; he had assumed that Tiraris had hated him ever since the incident with the guards. In fact, Windsor was completely oblivious to the fact that she liked him at all in any way. He assumed that she just had been being nice to him before so he would let her out of the house; he assumed that now she had some guilt related to leaving Azaldi to be hanged, but at the very least disliked him anyway. That is why the flash of betrayal in her eyes surprised him; it hadn't ever crossed his mind that she may see it that way. Now, at this point in time, he assumed that she would hate him to the end of time and that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. After all, in his eyes, all he had done was cause her a mountain of trouble and somehow she would have gone off better without him. Windsor held no ill will against her and wished absently that they would have gotten to talk more, just in a normal conversation. The thought left a deep hollow in his chest, an opportunity lost that would never come back again.

--


Azaldi watched the tear fall down her face for a moment as he bandaged the wound carefully and used his magic to heal it carefully, a solemn look on his features. In a barely audible voice, he said, "Will you allow for me to say something to you?"

[GoblinFae]

Her eyes shifted to look at the Azaldi even as she kept her head still. For a brief moment she did nothing else. Deep within, Tiraris could feel the urge to scream, to hurt, to kill. She did none of these things. Holding the elder's gaze, she finally gave in and bowed her head for him to continue.

'What will he say that you do not already know? Respect thy elders. He is a fool who almost got himself killed for you. He saved my life and has yet to betray me, he deserve my respect. And Dyre does not? I do not know that name anymore. The trust I had in that creature has been destroyed. You are such a fool Tiraris! Better a fool than dead.'

[CastlesInTheSky]

"I had thought honour was a lost virtue until you saved me from death." His voice remained very soft. He stepped away from her, finishing his healing. The cut was just a small irritation now.

"I do not need to know your name or what you do to know such things." He looked at her, lightly touching her shoulder with just his fingertips in a gesture of goodwill. He asked, quietly, "Now, what shall we do?" He seemed tired.

[GoblinFae]

For a very short moment a look of acceptance and understanding crossed Tiraris' features before being drowned out by the cruel smile that marred her features. "Who said I did this out of honor? You are a fool old man. Honor is dead," she sneered.

She flinched her shoulder away from his touch. "Rest. You need to eat and I need to sleep." Dismissing him, Tiraris turned on her heel and went to seek out Windsor. She could still hear him and knew he was close by. 'Idiot boy, trying to get us all killed again!'

"Do you want to die?" she asked rounding on him. "No? Then get back to camp! We are in this mess together; we stick together. I saved your ass once, I am not doing it twice. I told you that at the first sign of trouble I was out of here. You are trouble enough as it is and I am still here. Take that however you want to. But, if you do not start marching now, I will drag you kicking and screaming all the way to our destination whether you like it or not."

Her eyes seemed on fire, as her head lowered and her long mahogany hair pooled around her shoulders. She held her ground, refusing to give in and let him win. 'I have come too far and done too much to let you ruin this. A debt is a debt. Whether I like it or not, it must be honored.'