In the Shadows (Discontinued)

[Icepop213]

Maleth saw the two as he approached. He had heard a scream and was curious as to what it was. "What happened?" He looked at the man huddled in the cloak and knew it must have had something to do with him. "What did you do?" Maleth crossed his arms under his cloak and frowned. He glared down at him through his hood and walked closer. He sat down next to him.

[JackieCat]

Lorin looked up to see the second man approach.  She nodded in greeting, but said nothing as he sat down.

She did not answer the question, but she looked calmly over at Talin, waiting to see if he would answer the question truthfully, lie, or not even speak at all.

[Arclightning]

The question he knew was coming still hurt, like a lover leaving you alone in the rain.  He looked down and rubbed his shoulder. It was the only place where the welding had burned enough to scar. It still hurt sometimes. After a long pause he looked at Lorin for a moment. Trying to decide whether to lie or tell the truth. Instead he simply said one word.
"Steel." Then he looked down at the dirt, unable to meet her eyes.

[Icepop213]

"Steel? What does that mean?" Maleth looked over at Talin with a confused look, although he couldn't see it under the shadow of his cloak. He watched him rub his shoulder, and wondered what he meant. He looked then at Lorin, then back down at Talin. He frowned and asked again, "Now tell me - what did you do?"

[Arclightning]

"The barkeep. he had an accident." Talin said while his eyes focused on some thing in the distance. "Steel must be fed once every seven days. I just bought us time." He looked up at the two of them. "Are we packed?" He looked and saw they were. "Good. Lets go before we get jailed." And with that he stood up, shouldered his pack and looked expectantly at Lorin. "Where to?"

[JackieCat]

Lorin stood with him, obviously not content with his answer.

"You'll explain later," she said, pointing a finger at him. "But for now, we're heading for a forest not far from the outskirts of the village."

She started walking briskly down the street to the North-East.  Many would question her, knowingly hiring two men she just met, one of them a murderer?  But Lorin was in somewhat of a hurry, and, mostly, she was intrigued by them men, and wanted to learn more about them.

[Icepop213]

"Fine. Let's go." He was still confused, but he decided not to think about it too much. He started following Lorin. He sudenely started shaking. 'Steel...' He fell down, suddenly feeling weak. 'Steel... Where have I heard that from?' He thought about that night. The man who had killed his parents... Had he said something about steel? Maleth winced. He felt a sharp pain go through him. His cheek burned. "Aaghhhh!!" He yelled out in pain. After what seemed like forever, he stopped shaking and lied there, breathing shakily, drenched with sweat. His cheek still hurt. He shuddered. "Steel..."

[Arclightning]

When Maleth echoed the the word steel he whirled around to see him collapse on the ground. Talin's eyes widened.
"What about steel?" His eyes widening and voice tinging with urgency. "Did he talk about  steel as a person? His mistress? TELL ME!" When he screamed the last part he grabbed Maleth by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

[JackieCat]

Lorin spun around to see the man fall, but the look of concern on her face turned to anger as Talin grabbed the other man's shoulders.

"Get the hell off him!" Lorin said angrily, taking Talin by the shoulder and pulling him away.  "There will be time later to ask questions!"

Then she knelt next to the man lying on the ground and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked, realizing she didn't even know his name. "What happened?"

[Icepop213]

"Steel..." He tried to get up, but fell back down. His legs were too weak to support him. He looked up at Lorin and said, "Nothing, I'm all right." He then looked at Talin and said, "Yes... How would you know?" He suddenly felt another surge of pain through his cheek. "Aagghhh..." He clasped a hand to it. He saw a vision. He saw the man... He was with someone... Probably a coworker or something. He was talking to him. "Dunmoor... Yes, his family lives in Northwatch... Bring the sword... Steel one..." Maleth suddenly got up. He started breathing heavily. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time." He strugglingly got up and started slowly heading through the forest. He cringed. 'Steel...'

[JackieCat]

"Right," Lorin said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest, her tone irritated.  "You are clearly not okay, and when we get to the forest, we'll make camp, and then you two are going to explain to me what the hell you to are going on about."  She looked them both in the eyes. "And if you don't, you're both out of a job."

The normally joking and cheerful elf was quite irritated with these two mercenaries, but she sighed and walked over to the side of the road, where there were a few trees lining the road.  She picked up a few large sticks before dropping them again, and then, finding one that apparently suited her, she walked back over to the man who had fallen, handing him the tall walking stick.

"If you need to lean on it, do so," she said authoritatively. "Don't not use it for the sake of pride."

She continued walking, a little slower than before, in case the man couldn't walk fast.

"Oh, by the way, what's your name?" she asked over her shoulder. "I heard Talin's, but I don't believe I know yours."

[Icepop213]

"I'm Maleth." He took the stick and leaned on it to help him walk. He kept walking and kept talking, "Listen - when I was a boy, these strangers broke into my house and killed my parents." He stopped walking and looked at the ground. "Their leader was the one who gave me this scar." He ran his finger over the long gash in his cheek. "I think they used a steel sword, which they used to kill my parents and mark me. He was acting all weird, talking to the sword, acting as if it was a person. This man, Talin - he's acting just like he did." Maleth felt a tear fall down his cheek. He gritted his teeth and kept walking. He didn't look at either Talin of Lorin.

[Arclightning]

A thought hit Talin as Maleth finished explaining. He stopped in his tracks.
"Oh, no. No no nononononononono." He started chanting without taking a breath for almost a minute, until he calmed down. "Okay, so when we make camp, we will explain everything. I promise." He directed this at Lorin, who must be very annoyed, or worse, afraid of them by now. He then turned to Maleth. "I'm so sorry." Talin gestured at Lorin to lead on.

[JackieCat]

Lorin listened to Maleth's story, and glanced briefly over at Talin as her seemed to have a distressing thought, but she said nothing.  She would find out when they set up camp, at least she hoped she would.

They reached the forest a few minutes later, and then Lorin stepped off of the path and walked deeper into the woods until she found a small clearing.

"Here," she said, dropping her pack on the ground and starting the gather up firewood from around the clearing.  "We'll camp here."

[Arclightning]

When Lorin determined their campsite Yalin looked around with approval. Isolated, defendable, but big enough for a proper camp. Talking pulled out his single, thin blanket and layed it on the ground. He then went the rounds gathering firewood. Once there was a nice blaze going, you could see the stars in the sky. He turned to Lorin.
"I am so sorry for all the trouble I have caused. Once we get these items, if you want I will leave and never bother you again." And he meant it. Damn, why does he care if he annoyed her, or jeapordized her mission? Just because she's got a nice face and was the perfect leader for two strange men doesn't mean she should knock him off his feet. He's seen her type before. Never liked 'em, so why her? Goddamnit! he's  supposed to be a professional! Talin, he said calmly to himself. You are a bad man. Stop now and be what you actually are. A slave to Steel. Quit trying.

Talin realized that he had been staring at Lorin in silence for nearly a minute. He averted his eyes and cleared his throat, obviously very embarrassed. There! That! She made him lose control! If Talin was anything he was hell-bent on keeping his body language completely controlled. Lorin, stop being you. Please, for my sanity and soul. Talin realized it had only been a few hours and he had already been hired, told her more about himself than to anyone else, and she hadn't even really tried.

Talins mind turned to darker things. The child was here. The one who survived the most bloodthirsty of Steels beloveds. The one Steel had wanted for years. And he was here. Now all Steel needed to do was kill Talin and she would have the perfect vessel for her evil whims. Two things need to be done, finish the job, and save the kid. All there is too it. Damn this is fun. An evil grin split his face as he rolled up in his thin sheet of a blanket and fell promptly asleep.

[JackieCat]

Lorin looked at Talin with one eyebrow cocked and a smirk on her face as he stared at her.  When he looked away, embarrassed, she chuckled silently and sat down on her own bedroll, which she had laid out.

Her eyebrows rose again, however, when Talin suddenly grinned and laid down.  Lorin looked over at Maleth and shrugged.

"I'll keep watch tonight," she said.  "I basically slept all day today."  It was true, but she also wasn't ready to go to sleep with these two men so near.  She had no idea who they were, and they were both pretty strange.  The elf wasn't afraid, merely cautious and ready, as one should always be around strangers, especially ones as strange as these.

[Icepop213]

"Okay," Maleth replied as he covered himself in his cloak and tried to sleep. He tossed and turned, and thought. 'Argh, I had another attack.' Sometimes if Maleth is reminded of the day his parents died, he starts sweating and all of his strength flies from him. He decided that he couldn't fall asleep. He opened his eyes an saw Lorin sitting by the fire. He waited until she wasnt looking, and crept off into the forest. He started running. "Talin... Could he be connected to that night?" He stopped to catch his breath. He looked around and saw that fire flickering in the distance. 'If he is, then Lorin could be in danger,' he thought to himself. Maleth ran back to the camp site.

[JackieCat]

Lorin heard the rustle of a blanket, and looked over to see Maleth rushing into the woods.  She wondered where he was headed, but she didn't follow, or say anything as the man disappeared into the night.

She looked over to the sleeping Talin.  Questions were buzzing around in her head like a swarm of angry bees, but she would wait until morning to ask them.

It seemed the two men were connected in some way, though they didn't seem to know each other personally.  Though she was deep in thought, Lorin was still very much aware of her surroundings, and her sharp elfin ears picked up many sounds, from the rustle of a sleeping bird's wing to the soft footsteps of a wolf not far from the camp in the opposite direction Maleth had gone.  Lorin was not worried about the wolf, it was no danger to them.  It was a normal wolf, and it did not have its pack with it.

[Icepop213]

Maleth ran on and hid behind a tree near to the campsite. He saw Lorin acting normal and Talin still sleeping. He felt relieved. He still didn't think he could trust him. If he was connected in some way, that could mean danger to both Lorin and Maleth. Maleth thought to himself. 'As long as he doesn't make a move for either of us, we'll be fine. But the second he tries to do something to either of us, well, we're in trouble.' Maleth stopped thinking. He had heard something in the bushes. He looked around. He saw a few bushes rustling near the campsite. Maleth's heart started pounding. He saw a head peek around the corner. In the man's hand was a small knife. He ran out  stealthily, ready to strike at Lorin. Maleth sped out and blocked the attack with his sword just in time.

[JackieCat]

Lorin heard the man, and was about to move, but then there was the clang of metal and the elf rolled away and to her feet, two daggers already in her hands.

Maleth had blocked the dagger of the man who had just emerged from the trees.  The man was small and dressed all in black, but he was strong, and pushed against Maleth's blade.

"Talin!" lorin said loudly. "Wake up!"

Then she ran around the back of the black-clothed man and brought her dagger swiftly up and around his neck, the blade pressing gently on his throat.  "Don't move if you want to live," she said firmly, pressing her blade harder to the man's neck, but not enough to draw blood.