The Price of Immortality (Lion)

[Anonymous]

Adelaine was once again doing a drunken dance on the bar's tables.  "Cum on y'all!" She yelled as she swayed back and forth.  "Letz get dis parteh -hic- staaaaaarted!"  She raised a beer glass above her head, ignoring the frothy suds that splashed out to slide down the glass onto her arm.  "Now, who athinks, I can drink dis here beer in one swig?"

A roar of cheers and taunts filled the bar as the various patrons declared their thoughts on the matter.  "If yu's thinking I can't do it, my boss would be vereh happeh ta take some o' yur bets."  A small group of men hustled over to the bar owner who happily took their money, and recorded who gave him what.  Once there were no more bets to be made he signaled to Adelaine could proceed.

"Here I go boys!  Ya'll ready ta watch?"  The bar was once again filled with yells of encouragement and boos as Adel brought the mug to her lips.  She gulped down the frothy liquid without a single pause for breath.  The last of it trickled into her mouth and she threw away the mug so that it clattered on the ground.  "How's dat for all ya kind folks?"

She got herself off the table and worked her way to her boss, making sure to send flirtatious glances to all the men on her way.  This was her job, and by-golly she enjoyed it.  "Well boss, how much o' their mula did we get tanight?"  She asked, leaning on the bar.

"A good amount and you'll get your share once your shift is over."  He told her sternly.  "Now go take care of that man in the corner there.  He's just been sitting there and watching your display without ordering a single drink.  Tell him he better get buying or get leaving."

With a mock salute, Adelaine walked over to the table.  "Well hullo 'dere mista.  Ya plannin' on actually gettin' somthin' or are ya plannin' on leaving sometime soon."  She asked.  If she was more sober, she might have noticed the odd aura of the guy, and the small bulges his weapons made through his jacket.  Instead she stared at his face waiting for an order, oblivious to his hand that was reaching into his coat.

[Lion]

Theadel huddled in his fur coat even in the vague warmth of the tavern.  But no amount of warmth could stop the cold that emanated from his light flesh.  Gulping he finished reading the letter that Germael, his brother, had found a way to send him.   The last lines caused him to crush the feeble parchment in his iron fist.  The prospect was difficult to register: His brother in a Connlaoth prison?!  It was madness!  He said he was framed, that he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  How could Germael be arrested for murder?  He was too gentle a man to hurt a fly.

Realizing he had destroyed the last form of contact he had heard from his brother in years he smoothed out the wrinkles as best he could before folding it neatly and pocketing it in his coat.  His head was too busy swarming with the possibilities of how he could free his brother or what might happen to him if he stayed in that prison to care for the cacophony made by the drunken barmaid.  He could try to break him out, but the risks were too numerous.  What about bail?  Theadel shook his head in dismay.  Even if he managed to rob all of the nobles in Arca he couldn't possibly be able gain enough funds to reach the bail price.  There had to be another way.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when the voice of a woman penetrated his ears.  He looked up and noticed it was the same barmaid that made a spectacle of herself in the middle of the tavern, though it seemed the men didn't care any but would pay the highest price to get her into bed with them.  "Huh?  Oh yeah, uh get me a bottle of your strongest ale please.  Oh and here's a tip for that spectacle you put on earlier," Theadel replied, asidely absorbed in his money dilemma.  He reached into his coat and tossed two silver coins into her hands.  He readjusted the two daggers held at his side and gave her a warm smile.  

Like all light elves, Theadel had a connection to all the elements and too nature but his strongest connection was to the element of wind.  Able to feel movements in the air of the tavern as a cloaked figure entered from the cold.

[Anonymous]

Adelaine smiled back at the elf, "Why thank ya kindly sir!  I can assure ya yur kindness will not beh goin' ta waste!  Now don't cha fret, I'll be aright back over wit dat ale you's desiren'."  She walked back over to the bar where her boss waited expectedly.

"Well, what's he want?"  The burly man asked.

"He asked for our strongest ale boss.  And wuld ya mind holdin' on ta this nice tip for meh?"  She handed him the two silvers.  Gosh darn, she'd come to trust that boss of hers!  She'd only been working for him for what, four years?  It was a shame she'd have to leave shortly.  There were already rumors running wild around the town of how she hadn't seem to age a day.

"Ok, I've got the ale here.  Bring it on over to the man pronto."  Her boss stated as he handed her a frothy mug of beer.  "Now don't even think of tasting that stuff.  You've already had too much for the night."  He smiled at Adeliane, who was looking a bit guilty.  She had been considering sneaking a sip.  It seemed he'd come to know her pretty well.  He glanced towards the door and noticed the new comer.  "After you deliver the elf his drink, see to the new customer.  They seem a little confused about the fact that you sit down in a bar."

Laughing Adelaine spun around and headed towards the elf.  She was halted by a tall man who towered over her.  "Won't you come and, uh, entertain me tonight, Adelaine."  He said, winking at his friends who hooted and hollered in response.

"Well I'd sure luv ta Bryan, but I just ain't that drunk yet.  Maybe you'll have betta luck with dat plant."  Suddenly the man's friends hoots and hollars were directed at him.  Adelaine walked around him and set a course for the elf's table.  She may be easy by some girl's standards, but she was not bedding that ogre!  He had a reputation for being rough, and not in a good way.  The girls that made the mistake of going to a room with him usually left bruised.  Yup, it would take a few more strong drinks for Adelaine to even consider going any where with the likes of him.

"Sorry 'bout the wait mista.  'Fraid I got stopped along da way.  Here's dat drink ya ordered.  A good glass o' da taverns finest.  Enjoy!"  She took the coins from the elf that paid for the beer and went to look after the new costumer.

"Well hullo dere sir!  Why don't cha back away from dat door and find yurself a seat.  Once ya do dat I'll be mighty happy ta get cha whatever ya heart desires."  She stood smiling as the job required, waiting for the man to move.  Instead he stood there looking at her.  Gee, what's with this guy.  He's got to do something sometime!  Perhaps if she was sober she would have put a little more thought into the fact that he seemed so focused on her.

"You are Adelaine, correct?"  He asked.  She nodded, forcing herself to keep smiling.  She hoped he would hurry up, he was starting to get on her nerves.  He smiled, though she could  barely tell from the shadow beneath his hood.  â€œWell I know what I want, miss.  The secret to the Sorcerer’s stone if you don’t mind.â€?   He suddenly lunged forward, obviously planning on grabbing her.  She stood in shock, how could he know about the stone?  Her face was white, and between her distress and the drunken fog in her mind, she couldn’t get her body to react.

[Lion]

This was an odd one, Theadel thought quizzically.  From her accent he confirmed that she must not be around here.  Though neither was he.  Only those native to Hyoite could stand such cold, but she seemed to be doing better than he.  His mind switched over from his thoughts of her, hard pressed to avoid those of his brother, and onto the strong ale that would no doubt bring the warmth his body desired.  Knowing that if he kept the thick coat on would only make him hotter, he slipped it off and stretched his arms out in the air, his muscles relaxing as he folded his hands on the thick oaken table in front of him.

Theadel's attention fell on the stranger that just arrived through the door.  He was a rather unappealing fellow.  His face, from what Theadel could tell from the shadows of his cloak, was morose and hideously scarred with a curved slash mark circling his left eye and another ferociously carved into his left cheek.  A nasty, untrustworthy aura seemed to seethe from the man as he stood there making a feeling of uneasiness swell in the pit of his stomach.  He eyed the stranger with a vague curiosity, observing what he might do next.  

Again his attention was disturbed by the barmaid as she delivered his drink.  "Thanks, miss," he replied nodding and grinning in her direction.  Finally, he could get warm and quell that qualm in his stomach.  The liquor was a dream, seeping through his limbs and buzzing his brain.  The usual effect of liquor seemed a reversal this time.  His head cleared without its own volition and his concentration began to lie solely on the stranger.  As the barmaid approached him, it seemed  time stood still, Theadel's keen elven ears honing in on the conversation and feeling the movements of lips and words filter through the air.  "....Sorcerer's Stone.."  "Wha-" Theadel breathed before feeling the movement of the man lunging forward.

In that instant, Theadel was off his feet and soaring through the air, manipulating the wind to carry his weight farther than any natural leap.  His dagger's unleashed from their sheathes on his thighs, time moved like slow-motion as he positioned his body to throttle the man.  As time felt normal now, he knocked the stranger down, unknown the amount of force such a feat exerted on his lithe body.  "Move!" he shouted to Adelaine, wrapping his arms around her and yanking her violently out of the path of a flying kama that emerged from stranger's dark cloak like a swift shadow.  The man's large body was rather quick for his size and he slashed again at Adelaine but luckily Theadel was quick enough to block his blow with his broad bladed daggers.

A hardened force struck Theadel hard in the ribs, his teeth gritting in pain.  In a flash the kama swung towards him, denting the thick leather tunic that served as a cuirass and then, just as quickly, sliced his arm.  Pushing him back, he synchronized his arm motions and tossed a gust of air powerful enough to knock the large man back and into the ogre that accosted the barmaid.

[Anonymous]

Adelaine watched the cloaked stranger come closer and closer to her, yet she couldn't move.  He was almost upon her when the elf whose drink she'd supplied jumped in to push the man away.  Everything was moving too fast for her foggy mind to keep pace with.  The next thing she knew, the elfin man had his arms wrapped around her and was roughly pulling her out of the way of a kama sent her way by the stranger.  Another kama seemed to come of no where, this one also targeted at her.  Once again the elfin stranger came to her rescue, using some daggers he had to block the weapon.

She pulled herself away from the fight.  At least she was sober enough to figure out she was in danger.  The cloaked man turned his attention to her savior, smashing the man in the chest with his weapon, and then delivering a slash to the arm.  The elfin man seemed to be in trouble, but he somehow knocked the man flying backwards into the brute Bryan.  Adelaine couldn't help the smirk that crept onto her lips.  "Dat should leave a nice mark on dat fool."  She thought.

Thankfully Bryan was as dim-witted as the creature she enjoyed comparing him to.  With a roar of fury he set upon the cloaked man, rather than the elf.  His basic mind was unable to understand that the man had slammed into him because he'd been pushed there.  Bryan's friends happily joined in, with those that were too sober to fight creating a circle around the brawl.  Her boss was frantically moving chairs and tables away from the fight, to keep the damage to a minimum.  No one was going to leave that circle of fists for a while.

Adelaine lifted herself up and walked over to the elf.  "Well hullo 'dere cuteh.  Guess I owe ya thanks for savin' me from dat guy.  So I thank ya kindly, and now I gotta get myself agoin' before dat guy gets outa dat brawl.  Tell my boss ta use my pay for da night ta cover da damages o' da fight?"  With that she pulled open the door and walked out quickly without bothering to shut it behind her.  A bit too quickly; she had to pause and lean against the building.

Adelaine forced herself to breath a little slower and pushed away the buzz and nausea that had threatened to overwhelm her.  She was getting no where like this.  She walked back to the open door, a little more slowly this time.  "Actualleh, I got me an idea.  Ya intrested in earnin' a pretty penny cuteh?"  She asked the elf.  She knew she was taking a risk by having him travel with her, but until she sobered up, Adelaine knew she would need some help.  Once she could think clearly, she'd give him some money and ditch him.

[Lion]

"Yeah, sure" Theadel replied absentmindedly, turning to retrieve his thick coat that a drunkard had flung up in the excitement.  It seems they trampled on it too.  Inconsiderate bastards.  Slipping it on, he now had the resemblance of an Eskimo of sorts, the furred cuffs, lining and collar offering sufficient warmth to its lithe and leanly muscular wearer.  His heart was still pounding from the fight, however brief it was.  With one arm unsleeved he pulled out a spare handkerchief from the pockets and wrapped his slashed arm in it tightly.

The adrenaline that was pumping in him like wildfire was slowly but surely dissipating, thinning with the yielding of his thumping heart.  The brawl sure was enough to get the excitement started, even more so after the barmaid's dizzied table dance.  It seemed after she stopped being the center of attention then the party really got started.  He no longer paid any heed to the cacophony continuing behind him, but focused his attention from thinking of his brother and finding the owner, who conveniently was still shuffling vulnerable furniture out of the way of voracious brawl goers.  

Obliging the barmaid's request, he talked to the bartender who, in response, nodded with a grimace and a bit of annoyance written on his face.  Theadel thought nothing of it, and now no longer thought his saving of the barmaid's life any more significant than a simple fleeting moment.  All it really was was a spur of the moment incident, a small flash of pure instinct.  It wasn't until he heard a female voice called to him from behind.

Whirling around, he gazed upon the sobering figure of the barmaid.  He listened intently to her proposition, for it was hard for his sharp elven ears not to listen.  Money!  This was the golden moment he had been so ardent for.  Perhaps, providing she paid him enough, he could use that money towards Germael's bail.  Sure he didn't know this woman enough to trust her, and if he listened to his sense he probably would have spurned her offer and moped about his hellish predicament.  But he also knew an opportunity when he saw one and this was it.  "Sure," he replied meeting her at the exit.  "What have you go in mind?"

[Anonymous]

Adelaine fought to think through the thick cloud that had descended on her mind via alcohol.  Thankfully she wasn’t as drunk as usual.  If she had been, she wouldn’t be able to put any coherent thoughts together.  â€œWell for startas, I’m a-gonna get me somethin’ warm ta wrap myself in.  Aftah dat, maybeh we should consida a-getting’ outta dis here town?  Before dat bastard gets hisself outta da brawl.â€?

She spied a discarded cloak that had been dumped on the floor and lurched towards it.  Adel managed to grab it, though her confused eyes made it rather hard.  Once she managed to get her hand around it, she wrapped it around her self, not bothering to even try tying the thing.  She frowned a little, noticing the poor condition of the cloak.  The edges were completely frayed, and embellished with random holes that pointed to long use.  She shook her head at her folly.  The cloak would keep her warm, and that’s what mattered.  She could always turn it into something grander later, once she and the elf had escaped, and her head had cleared.

She returned to the elf, who was at the exit.  â€œSorry ta make ya wait, but I ain’t one for da cold.  Now let’s get outta here!â€?  As she headed out the door, she forgot the step down and almost fell.  Luckily, she grabbed the doorway and held herself up.  Once Adel was as steady as a drunken barmaid could be, she proceeded down the stairs and found her self completely submerged in cold.  She winced as the bitter wind attacked her face, and re-arranged the cloak so that it formed a hood-of-sorts around her head.  Now all that could be seen of her was her green eyes and a few strands of brown hair that managed to escape the wrap.  Adelaine was exceedingly grateful that the bar tender outfits in this area consisted of a long shirt over tight pants.  Much warmer than a skirt or the short corsets that were traditional in other bars.  The revealing neck line was hidden under the cloak-wrap, making her outfit rather comfy for the weather.

Thankfully, the blasts of wind also seemed to scare away some of the fog that plagued her mind, and she realized she had some matters to question her newest employee about.  â€œSo whatchu called by elf boy?  And how much are ya hopin’ ta get for bein’ meh body guard?â€?  She figured she might as well know how much he wanted so she could have the money ready.  That way she could place it near him some night and slip away.  Cheating someone out of their hard earned money was something she was planning on never getting in the habit of!  Besides, from the way he jumped at the chance to earn some cash, he probably needed money badly.  Or he could just be remarkably greedy.  Either way she’d need to ditch him before he realized how much money some people would pay for the secrets she held.  However, that would have to wait until she could walk in a straight line.