The skin trade. [Lion-O!] [M]

[Rhindeer]

Aysel jerked in alarm, body stiffening as Quinlan pointed out what she had forgotten in the chaos. Gwendolyn was still out there, and maybe her men--unless they had all been killed. She couldn't keep track of who was still living and who was dead, and of the bodies left behind, none were intact enough to identify.

Not that she had gotten close enough to try.

She swung a look around the area, and goosebumps rose on her arms and prickled along the back of her neck as she realized just how quiet it was now. Quiet, and empty. The other survivors had fled.

Where was Gwendolyn?

Aysel swallowed. "Okay," she said, still gripping tightly to Quinlan. "Maybe they ran away..."

Which wasn't far from the truth. Because among all the scattered footprints in the earth, most of them belonging to the slaves, there were also two sets, side by side, one made by a man's boots, the other made by a smaller set of boots--and the smaller set of footprints had left drag marks in the earth, as though the person wearing them had a bad leg.

They broke off from the camp, and lead  into the woods.

[Lion]

"Aysel, I think we're ready to get out of here?  Are you?' Quinlan breathed.

The tracks in the dirt were promising for now, and he had no intention of following them.  For now he just wanted to find some semblance of shelter.  And sticking around here certainly wasn't going to provide that.

He was tired and achy, hungry and wanted a damn good stiff drink. 

[Rhindeer]

"Uhhhh, you really gotta ask?" Aysel whispered back, still trembling with a mixture of adrenaline and terror. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, so loud in her ears she thought it might burst.

She inched closer to him, hugging herself tightly. "Where to? What if...what if there's more of those things?"

She'd been afraid of Gwendolyn and her lackeys. But now the slavers, to her, seemed to be the last of their problems.

[Lion]

"What?" he breathed.  "Who cares if there are more, we need to leave as soon as possible.  There's nothing here for us anymore.  And who gives a fuck about that stupid fucking slaver."  Quinlan took her hand in his and began marching for the trees, holding onto the shield she'd given him.  He glanced at it.  It was a handy little thing and he glanced at her, taking in a sharp breath.

"So how did you learn to make useful stuff like this?" he said, wondering whether or not he should ditch her.  He needed to get out of Adela.  This place was starting to be bad luck.

[Rhindeer]

"I, for one, certainly don't give a fuck about 'that stupid fucking slaver'," Aysel muttered as she scurried after him, though she was still nervous about that beast. It would be just great to escape slavery only to walk right into the jaws of something worse.

But Quinlan, at least, seemed capable of handling himself. He'd killed the thing! He'd somehow killed Jessen, without even getting near him! His blood seemed to be the source, which seemed fairly useful to her, since any special tools you needed to work with were literally right inside your veins. Quite unlike her skill, which required tools and materials and artistic talent and a source.

Keeping her voice quiet, she spoke without looking at him, more concerned about studying their surroundings for danger. "I learned by accident," she said. "I'm an artist, you see. And one day I just...did it. I was painting some flowers that don't exist, at least not that I've ever seen, and thinking how wonderful it would be if they were real. And then...suddenly they were. That is, they were totally fake, but the canvas I had painted them on just changed, and before I knew it, I had canvas flowers. Real looking ones."

She gave a little shrug. "I started experimenting after that. I'm still not quite sure of everything I can do." There was a pause, and she looked at him. "What about you? With your, you know...your blood thing."

[Lion]

"Oh that...hrmm."

Frankly there was no easy way to put it.  Quinlan's magical gift hadn't been particularly pronounced when he was a child, it wasn't until he got older that it began to show.  How animals reacted to him differently, and how some things just seemed to happen, like pushing a boy away that'd been bothering his sister just by thinking about it.

"To put it simply...I'm a blood mage.  It's not an easy gift...more of a curse than one anyway.  Blood powers most of my spells, and none of them are pleasant.  Sometimes the blood is what is directly manipulated."

[Rhindeer]

Aysel stared at him. Well, it was more like gaped. A blood mage. She'd heard about them, and had kind of suspected he was some sort of primal mage, but blood specifically! It was, from all she had heard, a very dangerous craft.

And from what she'd heard, the users of said craft often went...dark.

"Oh," she said, the pieces all falling into place. The way he'd licked her blood. Oh wow... "So that's how that evil git died. Can you...can you control the blood in peoples' veins?"

[Lion]

"In part...yeah.  I can...make it boil inside their bodies, make it thickened inside their veins, make it clot...  make it hurt really bad.  I've heard stories of mind control, some people using blood magic to control people, but I'm not that good.  But it's also pretty good for fueling spells.  The more magic in the blood, the more potent it is as well," he said carefully.

"I wasn't born like this...just saying," he said.  "Don't make deals with demons, just fyi.  It's more binding than you think."

[Rhindeer]

Aysel's jaw dropped.

"You made a deal with a demon?!" she sputtered, gawking. "What were you thinking?"

[Lion]

"Many many things...  But it's almost a decision I regret.  Then again. We tend to have a lot of those, don't we.  Comes with the territory I guess," he said with a sigh.  "Still, my advice still stands."

[Rhindeer]

"A decision you ALMOST regret?" Aysel didn't break her incredulous stare. "What could possibly be worth being indebted to a demon? Is your soul worth so little?"

[Lion]

"Is yours?" Quinlan snapped back at her.  "How much is your soul worth to you?"

[Rhindeer]

Aysel winced. She hadn't meant it to come out so harshly, so accusatory, but she couldn't quite contain her horror--and the sadness beneath it.

"I'm sorry," she said, voice softening. "I didn't mean to...it's just..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "We can drop it if you don't want to talk about it."

[Lion]

"It is what it is," he said, sighing deeply.  As hard as it was to admit, he had to tell someone, and it felt good to get it out.  "Sorry for snapping.  I suppose you had a right to know.  If you want to go on your own, I'll understand."

[Rhindeer]

"What? You think I'm scared of you, just because of that?" Aysel said, and mustered up a smile. Of course he'd feel like a pariah after that; with an ability like his--one gifted by a demon--no doubt plenty of people had left him in the dust. Maybe smartly so. Maybe he was dangerous--no, actually, there was no "maybe" about it; she'd seen what he could do.

Reaching out, she clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Heck no! I plan on sticking so close to you, you'll have to scrape me off! You're the scariest thing in these woods, after all!"

[Lion]

Well, he supposed he'd have to think of another way to get rid of her.  But for now she wasn't bad company, and she wasn't bad to look at neither.  He shook himself inwardly. Fuck if he didn't need a drink.

"Nothing really hurts my feelings, Rusty. But you're all right Easel. Aysel, whatever," he said and trundled along.  Really he ought to be more alarmed than he was, as they were in the middle of the woods, with no supplies, no gear, and would probably die.

[Rhindeer]

[Quinlan the optimist! 8D]

Aysel started to make a face at his slip, but it turned into a smile. Actually, she supposed it suited her, since she was an artist and all! Aw, he'd given her a nickname!

She followed along beside him, feeling strangely a little better about things. So they were lost in the middle of nowhere with hellbeasts all around them and a slaver on the loose and had no food or water or supplies. All of that was true! But Quinlan was tough as nails! He could take on whatever the world threw at them...right? And she was free. That alone was a weight off her. She was free, no longer to be sold...

She could go home.

"Quin?" she said after a pause, still sticking close. "Do you know how to get to Arca?"

[Lion]

"Arca?  Uh, sure.  It's a long way from where we are, if I can figure out where we are," he said with a soft huff.  He didn't feel confident in his answer, but he supposed he didn't have anything to do up North.  But maybe she did.

"Whatcha need to go to Arca for?"

[Rhindeer]

"Why? I'm from Arca, of course!" Aysel said, and let out an "oof" when she tripped over a root. She caught herself on Quinlan's arm and quickly righted herself, wincing as her toe ached in protest.

"That...that harpy and her merry men kidnapped me right off the streets! It's what they do, you know. Usually urchins, but sometimes they don't even care about that. Or..."

She frowned. "Maybe they thought I was an urchin. I was a little dirty..."

[Lion]

Quinlan was used to someone 'accidentally' bumping into him to cop a feel or try and stick their hand in his coat.  They were lucky if they got it back.  Fortunately for Aysel he was tired enough to be willing to be forgive and he just grinned at her.

"You okay?"

He sniffed and kept going through the trees, watching his step as he went, holding onto her and reaching out to help her keep her balance.  He just hoped they weren't too far from civilization that he couldn't find a good beer within the next few hours.  If not, he'd have to spoon with Aysel.  And she'd just have to like it.

"Right, urchins...  You were an urchin?  Or...what's your story, Aysel?  You're from Arca, you have magic painting skills.  Serious gusto for befriending blood mages.  What are you all about?" he asked, curious now.