Crooked as the Crow Flies [RINA!]

[Thief]

"No, I don't plan to," Jack answered.But, just because he did not intend any harm, did not mean she would be comfortable around a mercenary.  Though they both stayed calm, Jack really wished she would quit grabbing the hilt of her weapon. "Besides, why would I want to hurt someone who offered to help me."

[Anonymous]

"I donno. Because I'm a pretty girl an' all." Wren huffed, "Yer a real rude one. Don't know nothin' 'bout treatin' no ladies."

Heading off, Wren started off through the woods. The jerk got the long way!

[Thief]

"You're right about that," Jack said with a smile. However, he did not indicate whether he was agreeing that she was pretty or agreeing that he was rude. Though, in all honesty, he thought both were true.

Jack followed as she continued on through the trees. He could not shake the feeling that he was going to miss his window of opportunity in Adela.

[Anonymous]

Leading him along, Wren went back to whistling the song she had been before, slightly off tune. If he was going to be a jerk, she wasn't going to make him talk. And honestly, her feathers were still ruffled from his insulting response to her kiss.

[Thief]

Jack followed along quietly, keeping an eye on his new escort. She was whistling that song again, probably as a hint that she was not talking to him. Not that it mattered, he was in too much of a rush to have a pleasant conversation. Although, it did bother him that he had offended her. He would have to try and make it up to her once they got where they were going. With her leading him, perhaps he would even make up for lost time.

[Anonymous]

"Yer a real quiet one, ain't cha? Bit creepy, if ya ask me." Wren picked her way through the forest easily, finding game trails that led in the right direction, "Yer a real stiff one. Gotta loosen up some."

[Thief]

"I'm just in a bit of a rush," Jack said, following her down the game trail, "I'm sorry if I'm a bit direct. I didn't intend to be rude." Sometimes he came across like an automaton, cold and blunt. He really did not mean to be that way.

[Anonymous]

"Well, yer sure rude. Lady offers ya a kiss, ya should take it. Don't ya know nothin 'bout girls?" Not that Wren actually had much experience with boys. A few kisses here and there and some wandering hands, but that was about it.

[Thief]

"I've had some experience. However, I've noticed that no two are the same." Jack smirked. "I never know what to expect, experienced or not." It may not have explained his reaction early, but it was the extent of his knowledge about women, at least it was the one statement that always held true. "But I am sorry if I offended you in any way. I can assure you, it was nothing about you that made me behave that way."

[Anonymous]

"Well, that's real true. But I would think ya would have figured out that bein' rude and insultin' ain't the way to go!"

One hand came up and she absently twirled a strand of hair around her finger, "So what's got ya so rushed huh?"

[Thief]

"I heard of some big job. It's just a rumor, but there are mercenaries meeting to discuss it, and I was trying to get there in time for the meeting," Jack explained. Somehow, he doubted he would make it though. Something in the back of his mind was screaming at him that it was already too late. However, Jack did not believe it, and he had learned to ignore that voice a long time ago.

Jack continued to follow, keeping his violet eyes on the girl as she moved through the forest. He was curious of how she knew where she was going. He could have swore they had turned the same direction several times now. Were they going in a big circle?

[Anonymous]

They weren't going in a circle. Wren was just going a very long, tangled route, "So yer a sellsword then? I ain't see why people think that's such a great job, yet bein' a bandit makes ya a criminal. I mean, it ain't really all that different."

[Thief]

"I suppose it can be the same thing sometimes, both deal in money earned through blood." Jack did not take contracts like that himself, killings and assassinations. No one could pay him enough to be their hitman. "Of course, not all of us are the same."

He did not know if it was a slip of the tongue, or a confession to his suspicion, but know he knew why a young woman was out here alone, and armed at that. The only question left in Jack's mind was whether or not she intended to hold good to her word.

His suspicions were getting the best of them. He had to make sure she was not just leading him in circles. While her back was to him, Jack held his out hand and a knife appeared in his palm. He let it slide along the bark of a tree before allowing it to vanish again.

[Anonymous]

"Well, I guess." Wren huffed, then paused when she realized what she was saying. Not really the best idea to blab about her job, "Well, I mean, I ain't know any or nothing. But, well, just seems to me that, ya know, they ain't that bad or nothin'."

Wren was actually leading him along, it just was in a long, winding way, over hills and along paths not much more than a deer trail.

[Thief]

"I doubt all bandits are bad." Jack must have upset her. His description of bandits was as one-sided as her perception of mercenaries had been. "In fact, I'm positive most bandits have a good reason behind their actions."

[Anonymous]

"Yeah! Exactly! I mean, not that I know any or nothin', but just, I think that they get a bad reputation." Wren perked up a little, glad Jack had changed his mind. "So wut's it like being a merc?"

[Thief]

"It varies day by day. Some days, I feel like an errand boy given a task or chore to do. Other days, I feel like a soldier given a mission to complete. No matter what, I'm usually seen as the villain, even if my job is a bounty on a hardened criminal."

Jack paused, and looked up at Wren. "They call us fighters for hire, or sellswords, or even contract killers in a more extreme example, but it's not always a fair description. Mercenaries also have a bad reputation. But, before you can judge the individual, you have to decide who is worse; the one taking the job, or the one offering it."

[Anonymous]

Wren gave a short, barking laugh, "Ha! Yer both shitheads! Ya sure talk real fancy, but it just comes down ta the fact yer still killin' people all over the place." Not that her own hands were free of blood, but Wren avoided it. She would much rather threaten or beat the money out of someone than kill for it.

[Thief]

"And that's the number one answer." Jack did not like it, but both the person offering the job and the one taking it were responsible for whatever the outcome of the job might be. That is why mercenaries would always have a bad reputation.

Of course, there was another answer to consider. "If someone kills for money, then both the job giver and the job taker are murderers. But what if the mercenary refuses the job?"

[Anonymous]

"Then I 'magine he ain't got much money." Again, Wren hooted with laugher, amused endlessly by her own wit. She clapped Jack on the back, still laughing slightly under her breath, "Man! Ain't ya a funny one. Hey, ya got any good stories? From bein' a merc an' all."