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What Choice, But to Run?

Started by Marakai Trin, June 20, 2017, 02:09:48 PM

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Marakai Trin

It was supposed to be two weeks of leave, two weeks of idyllic bliss with the person dearest too his heart. Two weeks without having to think about the war, without having to bathe in blood.

Just....two weeks. Was that really too much to ask?

Apparently not. The report he'd given was supposed to be followed up on. Diz knew that. But what he didn't know was that they suspected something...so when they did follow up, it was a complete surprise to him.

Luckily, he was there. Luckily, he was armed. Unluckily, he was now a wanted man, for resisting arrest, harboring a mage, and killing a fellow mordecai.

What was to be said? Love made you do crazy things. Now, they were riding a wagon, pulled by an old gray mare that he didn't even know the name of. His hair was now shorn, cut short to be less easily recognized.

What a desperate state of affairs. But, Nyla was all right, and they'd survived for a couple weeks since they'd fled Reajh. That's what mattered. That's all that mattered, at least to Diz.

The former mordecai captain pulled down his hood to look around properly, noting that the coast was clear. He pulled the reigns back, causing the old gray nag to stop.

He tied the reigns to the post in front of him, and turned to poke his head into the wagon.

"Nyla...you doing all right back there?"

DragonSong

Curled up against the side of the wagon as her stomach roiled in protest against their movement, Nyla lifted her head in an attempt to offer a smile through the messy, dark curtain that fell in front of her face.

"I- I'm fine," she murmured, gathering her hair out of her face with one hand and using the other to brace against the side of the wagon as she sat up. "Do you want me to take a turn driving?" She was pale, paler than usual, but offered easily enough.

Normally travel didn't affect her quite so badly- she was chalking it up to a rather traumatic last few weeks. Poor Cal had been so panicked by what happened that he'd vanished through the Veil. She hadn't had the strength to attempt to summon him back.

Marakai Trin

Disgaua smiled at her, his eyes twinkling as they usually did when his gaze was set on her. He noticed thr pale tone to her skin, and was worried a little bit. She seemed to be more and more sick lately, and he had his suspicions as to the reason, but...

Well, he didn't really want to worry about it, just yet. There were much more pressing concerns.

"Well...if you like, you can come up here with me and get some air. You don't...look like you're feeling too well."

DragonSong

Nyla offered another small smile and nodded quickly. "Sure. Thanks." She clambered out to settle on the driver's bench next to him, immediately tucking her body against his and letting her head rest against his shoulder.

"Fresh air was a good idea," she sighed, letting her eyes slide closed. "It's so stuffy back there, it's making me woozy."

Marakai Trin

As she laid her head upon his shoulder, automatically his arm reached out to wrap around her waist.

"Yeah, it's getting quite warm out. Maybe you should stay up here, with me? I could do with the company anyway, love."

With his free hand, he slowly unwound the reins, and snapped them to get the wagon moving again. The old nag started moving again, and the wagon gave a slight lurch as it was pulled forward.

Gently, he turned his head to press a kiss into her hair. "I love you, Nyla. No matter what." He'd been saying this since that first night, every day at least three times. More so lately, referencing their current predicament.

"You know that, don't you?"

DragonSong

She smiled tiredly and returned his kiss with one to his cheek. "I know, sweet. I love you too." Despite the fact that both their lives would be so much easier if they didn't, she never tired of saying it, or hearing it.

"Sure you don't want me to take a turn driving?" Nyla frowned slightly, concern flickering in her eyes. "When was the last time you had a proper rest?"

Marakai Trin

Diz chuckled, a bit mirthful. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, frowning just a bit.

"Proper rest? That would have been...how long has it been now, since that day?"

That wasn't right of him, and he knew it. It had been...a long few weeks, to say the least. Long, complicated, and very stressful.

He sighed a bit, and shook his head. "....I'm sorry, Nyla. It's just been...hard. I feel like I've ruined your life, taken away all you had set up. Gods... I'm sorry, love. I blame myself, though."

DragonSong

"No no no no no." Nyla twisted to cup his cheek in her hand, frowning up at him. "Don't do that, please don't do that. This isn't your fault, love."

If the blame lay with anyone, it was her. She sighed and dropped her head onto his shoulder. "Please don't apologize to me." She just wasn't worth it.

With a sharp breath, she lifted her head and snuggled more securely into his side. "Look, maybe we should take a break. You need sleep, Diz. Real sleep."

Marakai Trin

Diz closed his eyes, relaxing into her touch, her presence. In truth, he'd barely slept for more than a few hours at a time during these few weeks, and the toll it was having on him was getting harder and harder to compensate for.

Hell, he could easily fall asleep right there, his arm around her with his face pressed into her hair. Though he imagined she intended actual rest, he supposed....

"All right...I'll climb into the back and rest for awhile. Just...wake me if you need anything, okay?"

DragonSong

"Of course." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before shooing him back toward the wagon. "Now go on, get some sleep."

Marakai Trin

Diz returned the kiss, a lingering touch on her cheek. "And I mean it. Anything. If you get tired, or we run into trouble of any sort, wake me." He reached down and squeezed her hand affectionately, that twinkle in his eye resurfacing for just a moment, and then climbed into the back of the wagon.

He took quick stock of what they had. Food, for a few days at least. Plenty of waterskins, with plenty of streams and rivers to fill up with if they ran low. His swords, wrapped in cloth and hidden behind everything.

His glaive, stripped of it's tassel and any mark identifying it to Disgaua Carthalion.

His armor, all it's paint and crests sanded down to bare metal, similarly hidden in pieces amongst their provisions. He'd burned the tabard the night after they'd left. On the one hand, it felt like sacrilege, burning that symbol of Ansgar. On the other,  it seemed an absolute necessity.

He sighed, and laid down on the pile of furs and blankets he'd managed to scrape together for them. This wasn't a way for them to live...and if his suspicions were correct, they'd need to find something better, and soon.

DragonSong

Nyla smiled and nodded, making sure to keep the worry from her face until he was safely inside the wagon. Then her shoulders slumped a bit and she let out a long breath, grip going a little lax on the reins.

At least out in the open air she didn't feel so nauseous. She sighed again and leaned back against the driver's seat, giving a little click to encourage the horse over a small puddle when they stalled.

It was a distraction, if nothing else, focusing on driving the wagon rather than the some dozen worries that clamored for attention in the back of her mind.

Marakai Trin

Worry and consternation lined Diz's face for quite a while, as sleep evaded him. His thoughts ran wild, as they always seemed to do lately.

What would they do? Where would they go, exactly?

How, when, where, what if. All of everything seemed to be running his mind into the ground and drive him further and further into exhaustion. It wasn't for a long while that he finally fell into an exhausted slumber, eyes closed tightly.

DragonSong

She let him sleep as long as she could. Gods knew he certainly deserved the break. Eventually, when the sun began to kiss the horizon, she slowed and finally stopped the wagon, then twisted around and crawled back inside.

"Diz." She touched his shoulder lightly and leaned over him to kiss his cheek to wake him, her hair falling forward to curtain them both. "I'm going to unhitch the horses for the night. Think you can get up to eat something?"

Marakai Trin

Consciousness slowly came to him again, delivered by a kiss on the cheek and the voice of an angel. His eyes cracked open just enough to see a curtain of dark curly hair and a beautiful face before him.

He smiled, still tired but still moderately refreshed. He lifted his head up just enough to return her kiss, soft on her lips, before lying his head back against the blankets.

"Yeah...I could eat. How long did I sleep?" He peered around her to glance outside, and blinked. Dusk was settling, and dark would come soon. A few hours, at least. He wondered where they were.

"So, no problems I take it?" He returned his gaze to her, smiling warmly.

DragonSong

Nyla smiled and gave him one more quick peck on the lips before sitting back. "Just a few hours. Honestly, I wouldn't have woken you, but you really should eat something," she murmured. She climbed over him to slip out of the back of the wagon.

"I'll get a fire started... Stay here a minute?" She sort of winced as she said it.

She needed space from him to perform even the simplest magics. But it was her magic that had gotten them into this mess in the first place, and she knew it made him uncomfortable. But- but she couldn't just not use it. It was a part of her.

Not to mention it made certain things exponentially easier.

Still, she couldn't look at him as she climbed down from the wagon and hurried around to unhitch the horses.

Marakai Trin

Diz knew why she wanted him to stay put, and sighed just slightly. He was still adjusting to her magic - there was really no point in stopping her, seeing as how they were on the run for that very thing anyway. It still made him uneasy at times, but he knew acceptance would come with time.

While he waited, he changed clothing, donning a simple blue tunic and breeches. He noted they'd have to stop at some point to clean their respective wardrobes - both of them were quickly running out of clean clothes. A stream would suffice, easily, and it'd give them both the chance to get the dust and grime from the road off of their bodies.

DragonSong

Horses loosely tethered to graze alongside the wagon, Nyla quickly built a small fire and lit it with a muttered spell.

Even that small exertion made her sway, color draining from her face, and she pressed a hand to her mouth as her body threatened to rebel against her. Gods, she was going to be sick. A little uneasily, she got to her feet and stumbled to the side of the wagon so she could sit against it, forehead resting on her knees as she focused on breathing.

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