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On The Road To Nowhere [Moonie]

Started by TheHopeseeker, March 13, 2017, 03:34:02 PM

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TheHopeseeker



Wet, damp, cold. The forest was miserable, droplets of rain breaking through the sparse barrier between heaven and earth easily. The storm roiled overhead, thunderclaps booming like the world's drums. No animal dared venture out into the open, several of the taller, reaching trees had already been struck. Only a madman would traverse the maze of a forest in such conditions.

Huddled against the base of a short, stout little tree, Zahir pulled his cloak around himself tightly, actively cursing whatever gods were listening. A persistent drip landed in his hair, trickling down his skull to slip down nis shirt. The thick branches of the dwarfish tree offered a small canopy against the warring elements, but they were not designed to be completely waterproof. His shoulders and above were damp and cold, even the cloak wrapped around him not enough to keep the water out.

Sighing softly, he shifted back against the hard trunk behind him, grateful that it, at least, was mostly dry. Though, that was probably because he had been all but attached to it for the last few hours. Glancing up, he peered through the thick green leaves above him, trying to gauge how much longer the storm would last for. All he recived for his troubles was a drop of water in the eye.

Swearing loudly, though the words were drowned out by the thunderous boom of the heavens above, he rubbed at the affected eye sourly, cursing the horse that had dumped him and bolted with his supplies at the first bout of thunder to the ends of the earth.

Zero

Going over the events of the last several months, more than once, Noelle simply could not understand how things had come to this.

It had not been raining when Lady Cassandra had dragged her from the manor she'd been raised in all her life. There had not been rolling thunder when she'd been cast out and told not to return. Lightning had not been dancing across the sky when Noelle had lost the only home or family she could actually remember.

All her clothes had been left behind, they'd not even given her a cloak to drape about her to keep out the wet or cold. A somewhat bitter fact as the storm had rolled in. The girl was drenched to the bone, her hair plastered to her face, neck, and shoulders as she walked numbly through the forest paths. Mud caked her dress boots and the hem of her skirts, but that seemed fairly inconsequential to everything else. She probably should have sought shelter somewhere, anywhere, but there was naught else but trees for miles.

Lightning struck trees.

Noelle also wanted to put as much distance between her and the house as possible. Lord Samuel might yet convince his wife to allow him to bring her back - appeal to her compassion for a poor, sheltered girl out in such weather. As miserable as she felt as homelessness dawned on her, she thought it better than going back now that it was clear a man she'd looked up to like a father had vile intentions towards her.

Imagine her stunned shock when an equally soaked horse thundered through the trees towards her. The obviously frightened animal reared and lashed out a little when she was in its path, but Noelle ducked back, reaching out her hands and cooing out to the poor beast - although it was a very loud shushing sound as to be heard properly over the wind and rain.

It took a couple minutes to calm her - she realized it was a mare after she was able to gently grab the bridle, her other hand gently stroking the horse's nose as she spoke to her as softly as she could.

Finding a horse, with tacking and supplies no less, was very surprising. Especially one so fine. It didn't belong to Lord Samuel, that was obvious because it had both come from the wrong direction and because she knew every horse in her former master's stable. The mare had to belong to someone though. Coaxing the animal along, leading her by the reins, Noelle decided to go in the direction the beast had come from. Her owner would want her back.

If they weren't dead.

TheHopeseeker

The rain continued to pour down over Zahir's scarce shelter, the branches bowing down more and more as the water weighed them down. Shrinking back when the cold, damp leaves touched his face, Zahir pulling his cloak back with him. Unfortunately, he realised a moment too soon, the fabric had been caught on the branch he was trying to escape.

The heavy arm sprung upwards with a dull brush of air, it's load departing with all the weight it had. Zahir gave a Yelp, lunging forwards too late to escape the drenching. Coughing and spluttering as water washed down his face, he stared at the shelter he had just vacated with a somewhat dumbfounded look. Shaking the water from his hair, though more stinging, liquid ice was beating against him now that he was upon the open path once more, he let out a huff of breath and pulled up the good of his coat.

His clothing was drenched in a matter of minutes, the white and cream fabrics sticking to his skin horridly. The cloak did little, now, it's tail dragging in the muddy path as he walked. A flash of lightning lit up the darkened forest around him, and he knew he wasn't imagining the figure he saw on the horizon in that brief moment of light. A frown touched his face as he shrunk back against the brush, watching and waiting as the person surely drew nearer.

Had they found him already?

Zero

As she floundered through the forest, it did occur to her that some people might have thought her a little crazy. After all, wasn't she now homeless and with nothing to her name? Maybe some would have considered Noelle to be looking a gift horse in the mouth as she attempted to find the proper owner of the now rather sweet mare.

The animal was fine and would have made a good mount, or would have sold for quite a lot. She could have at least given herself some kind of start if she kept the horse for herself. Almost ruefully she was no thief.

No matter how tempting.

While the lightning strike had illuminated her for a moment to him, well, Noelle was huddled against the mare, using the horse as something of a wind break to give herself even a small reprieve. She did not see Zahir, but they were headed in his direction steadily.

TheHopeseeker

Zahir remained firmly stationed in his place of shelter, remaining immobile despite the drop persistenly falling down his neck. The key, he had learned, to not being seen, was not to hide in the shadows, or make oneself as small as possible. The trick of it was to not. move. No matter how tempting it may have become.

The steady thump and squelch of horse hooves passed him by, the sound nearly completely drowned out by the thunderous storm above. He waited a beat, then two, before stepping out of his shelter. Immediately the wind hit him, blowing his cloak out behind him as another crash of thunder and lightning lit the sky.

Vision. His eyes alighted on the drenched, ebony rump of the mare and he scowled. The mare was quiet and calm in the face of the storm, despite the unknown person walking beside her, and a quiet, seething rose inside him. Pushing his irritation at the horse aside for now, he moved forwards, his advance muted by the weather. For the first time, he was thankful for the storm.

He arrived behind the pair without a sound, his hand resting on Vision's hindquarters for a moment as he felt his way to the sword tucked into the supplies strapped to the mare's back. With a shrill ring of metal, Severus slid free of its casings, the sound sudden, sharp, and directly behind the figure still obliviously leading Vision onwards.

Zero

If not for the storm she wouldn't have kept her head down, the footsteps wouldn't have been masked, and she probably wouldn't have been caught by surprise so easily. As it was, Noelle's first indication that she wasn't alone was the bone-chilling sound of metal scraping across metal.

She jumped and whirled around, clutching at her throat, since that's where her heart felt like it currently was. Her eyes had gone wide as saucers as she froze, afraid to move and provoke him in some way.

Noelle silently cursed herself for being foolish. Why should she expect someone to be decent out here in the storm? Nobody that wasn't up to no good would be out in this weather.

"Please, I'm not armed!" She said, raising her hands to show that they were empty. Except for the reins of course. It didn't really occur to her to simply drop them. What if the horse ran away? She wished that the animal were between her and this apparently aggressive man. Had she hopped from the frying pan and straight into the fire?

TheHopeseeker

Zahir frowned, the expression masked by the hood throwing shadows across his face. He didn't know this woman, her voice and face unfamiliar. He lowered Severus slightly, the black blade appearing as little more than a shadow in the dark, and took a step back. The rain beat steadily on them, mud splattered over all three.

"Who are you?" He asked at length, letting Severus' tip touch the ground. He would not drop his guard so easily, but it was clear the woman before him was no warrior, even in the half light. Vision snorted softly at his voice, turning her head to look at him with intelligent brown eyes. He sent the horse a filthy look, disgust and irritation in every inch of his face, before focusing on the woman before him once more, "Where did you find my horse?"

Zero

Surprisingly this was only the second most tense and frightening moment of her life. Or even of that day.

Noelle's eyes were fixated on the blade, it was so dark and sinister looking, at least to her. Her hands tightened their grip on the reins as she didn't dare even breathe, at least until he lowered the point away from her a little and stepped back. She didn't relax completely, of course. He could still decide to stab her with it, but for the moment he didn't seem like he was sure he was going to kill her.

"Me? I'm really no one, but my name is Noelle Dupont." She actually managed to get the words out with only a little bit of quivering. "In the forest. I was walking and she came out of the trees at me, terrified of the storm. I calmed her and then brought her back the way she'd come. She's a very nice horse, I thought her owner would want her back."

It sounded even stupider out loud than it had in her head.

TheHopeseeker

Zahir frowned, weighing her words. He could detect no lie in her voice, not that that meant anything, but she seemed earnest enough. Vision snorted and stamped impatiently, shaking her head and hitting the woman with icy droplets from her thick mane. Zahir sighed, shuffling his hand further down Severus' blade and shaking his head.

"I should ask what you were doing out in this storm, but as I'm in the same position myself, it would be somewhat ironic." He mused at last, blinking rapidly as a droplet of water ran down his face into his eye, "So, for the moment, I suppose we shall just have to trust each other. Unless you plan on going back the way you came?"

He eyed her clothes, noting the total lack of a cloak or coat of any kind. Her shoes were hardly ideal for the conditions either, soft and thin, now coated in mud, much like the bottom of her dress. Shaking his head again, he reached up to slide Severus' back into the sheath on the back of Vision's saddle. Watching her out of his peripheral, he waited for her reply.

Zero

The drenched and bedraggled young woman raised her hands to guard against the droplets of water being shaken out of the horse's mane, although given the current downpour it seemed a rather futile and silly gesture. Noelle didn't much care, she was just cold, wet, frightened, and very ready for this nightmare of a day to be over.

Her lips tightened at the idea of trying to explain why she was out there, but he didn't really demand to know. Praise the gods for that at least. It would have been beyond embarrassing to tell a stranger about the circumstances leading to this terrible moment.

"I can't go back the way I came. There's a small city nearby, surely you've seen it." Noelle had raised her chin, trying not to appear like a scared church mouse. It was easier now that he'd sheathed the blade. In the city she could figure something out, and at least find shelter. She'd never gone there alone before, and had always ridden to the market there in a carriage with her friend.

TheHopeseeker

Zahir nodded, ignoring the shiver that ran through him as he turned back to the girl,  folding his arms over his chest. He did, indeed know about the city; it had been his destination before the storm had forced him tontry and find shelter, not that that had worked spectacularly well. Fighting off the urge to rub his aching temples, he blew out a ahort breath, giving the woman one more, wary glance before he shook his head, vaguely thinking he would probably regret this, and spoke, "I am heading for the city. If you wish, we can travel together. These woods aren't known for being safe."

As he spoke, he opened one of the saddlebaga hanging off Vision's saddle, disentangling the items within from his spare cloak, and tossed the large item at her, "Not that it'll do much to keep what you're already wearing dry, but it might keep it from getting any worse." He murmured, closing the saddlebag and walking forwards to grasp Vision's reins.

Zero

Her first instincts were not to trust a stranger, especially one that had been pointing a sword at her a minute ago, but Noelle didn't have great options at the moment. Sure, she could possibly make it safely to town on her own, but she might get lost, or hurt, or accosted by vagabonds. That left her with only one really viable choice.

"I would appreciate that." Having an armed escort as far as city limits would be better than nothing. He wasn't still threatening her now that he had his horse back, so she decided to take the chance and assume he didn't mean her any further ill intent.

It took her by surprise when he pulled a cloak from his bag and threw it at her. She managed to catch it, keeping it from falling completely in the mud. The small act of kindness was truly unexpected. With a softly spoken thank you, Noelle hurriedly secured it around her shoulders, pulling the hood up to shield her from the rain as she turned to step up beside him. "Thank you again, for allowing me to accompany you, and for the use of your cloak. Today has not been a kind day to me."

TheHopeseeker

He merely nodded, gathering Vision's reins in hand as he started to follow the muddy trail once more. The rain showed no sign of easing up, the dark thunder clouds consuming what little light there was left in the day, if any. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed since the storm began, how much time had been lost.

If nothing else, the rain would hide his tracks.

Smothering a sigh, he raised a hand to cover his eyes, attempting to block the rein from them as he cast his gaze about. Surely there was somewhere to hole up until the storm passed, somewhere dry and, God allowing, warm?

"We need shelter," he said at length, casting a glance sideways at Noelle, "Keep an eye out."

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